Jeremiah 43

1 And it came about that when Jeremiah had come to the end of giving all the people the words of the Lord their God, which the Lord their God had sent him to say to them, even all these words,

After Jeremiah finished telling everyone all that the Lord their God had send him to say,

2 Then Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the men of pride, said to Jeremiah, You have said what is false: the Lord our God has not sent you to say, You are not to go into the land of Egypt and make your living-place there:

Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the proud and rebellious men told Jeremiah, “You're lying! The Lord our God hasn't sent you to tell us, ‘You are not to go and live in Egypt.’

3 But Baruch, the son of Neriah, is moving you against us, to give us up into the hands of the Chaldaeans so that they may put us to death, and take us away prisoners into Babylon.

No, it's Baruch son of Neriah who's turned you against us in order to hand us over to the Babylonians so they can kill us or exile us to Babylon!”

4 So Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, did not give ear to the order of the Lord that they were to go on living in the land of Judah.

So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders refused to obey the Lord's command to stay in the land of Judah.

5 But Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces took all the rest of Judah who had come back into the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been forced to go;

Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders took with them all who were left of the people of Judah, those who had returned to the country from all the nations where they had been scattered.

6 The men and the women and the children and the king's daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, had put under the care of Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch, the son of Neriah;

These included men, women, and children, the king's daughters, and everyone Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard had allowed to remain with Gedaliah, as well as Jeremiah and Baruch.

7 And they came into the land of Egypt; for they did not give ear to the voice of the Lord: and they came to Tahpanhes.

They went to Egypt because they refused to obey the Lord's command. They went all the way to Tahpanhes.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,

A message from Lord came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes:

9 Take in your hand some great stones, and put them in a safe place in the paste in the brickwork which is at the way into Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, before the eyes of the men of Judah;

As the people of Judah watch, get some large stones and set them into the cement of the brick pavement in the entrance way to Pharaoh's palace at Tahpanhes.

10 And say to them, This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: See, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and he will put the seat of his kingdom on these stones which have been put in a safe place here by you; and his tent will be stretched over them.

Tell them that this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I'm going to send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bring him here. I will place his throne over these stones that I have set into the pavement, and he will spread out his royal tent over them.

11 And he will come and overcome the land of Egypt; those who are for death will be put to death, those who are to be prisoners will be made prisoners, and those who are for the sword will be given to the sword.

He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those destined to die, imprisonment to those destined to be imprisoned, and the sword to those destined to be killed by the sword.

12 And he will put a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and they will be burned by him: and he will make Egypt clean as a keeper of sheep makes clean his clothing; and he will go out from there in peace.

I will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar will burn them and loot their idols. He will pick the land of Egypt clean like a shepherd picks his cloak clean of fleas, and he will leave unharmed.

13 And the stone pillars of Beth-shemesh in the land of Egypt will be broken by him, and the houses of the gods of Egypt burned with fire.

He will knock down the sacred pillars of the temple of the sun in Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.