< Jeremiah 43 >
1 After Jeremiah finished telling everyone all that the Lord their God had send him to say,
IN THE FOURTH YEAR OF JOAKIM son of Josias king of Juda, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 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.’
Take you a roll of a book, and write upon it all the words which I spoke to you against Jerusalem, and against Juda, and against all the nations, from the day when I spoke to you, from the days of Josias king of Juda, even to this day.
3 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!”
Perhaps the house of Juda will hear all the evils which I purpose to do to them; that they may turn from their evil way; and [so] I will be merciful to their iniquities and their sins.
4 So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders refused to obey the Lord's command to stay in the land of Judah.
So Jeremias called Baruch the son of Nerias: and he wrote from the mouth of Jeremias all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken to him, on a roll of a book.
5 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.
And Jeremias commanded Baruch, saying, I am in prison; I can’t enter into the house of the Lord:
6 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.
so you shall read in this roll in the ears of the people in the house of the Lord, on the fast day; and in the ears of all Juda that come out of their cities, you shall read to them.
7 They went to Egypt because they refused to obey the Lord's command. They went all the way to Tahpanhes.
Peradventure their supplication will come before the Lord, and they will turn from their evil way: for great is the wrath and the anger of the Lord, which he has pronounced against this people.
8 A message from Lord came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes:
And Baruch did according to all that Jeremias commanded him—reading in the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house.
9 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.
And it came to pass in the eighth year of king Joakim, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem, and the house of Juda, proclaimed a fast before the Lord.
10 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.
And Baruch read in the book the words of Jeremias in the house of the Lord, in the house of Gamarias son of Saphan the scribe, in the upper court, in the entrance of the new gate of the house of the Lord, and in the ears of all the people.
11 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.
And Michaeas the son of Gamarias the son of Saphan heard all the words of the Lord, out of the book.
12 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.
And he went down to the king's house, into the house of the scribe: and, behold, there were sitting there all the princes, Elisama the scribe, and Dalaeas the son of Selemias, and Jonathan the son of Acchobor, and Gamarias the son of Saphan, and Sedekias the son of Ananias, and all the princes.
13 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.
And Michaeas reported to them all the words which he had heard Baruch reading in the ears of the people.
And all the princes sent to Baruch son of Nerias Judin the son of Nathanias, the son of Selemias, the son of Chusi, saying, Take in your hand the roll in which you read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch took the roll, and went down to them.
And they said to him, Read [it] again in our ears. And Baruch read [it].
And it came to pass, when they [had] heard all the words, [that] they took counsel each with his neighbour, and said, Let us by all means tell the king all these words.
And they asked Baruch, saying, Where did you write all these words?
And Baruch said, Jeremias told me from his [own] mouth all these words, and I wrote them in a book.
And they said to Baruch, Go, and hide, you and Jeremias; let no man know where you [are].
And they went in to the king into the court, and gave the roll [to one] to keep in the house of Elisama; and they told the king all these words.
And the king sent Judin to fetch the roll: and he took it out of the house of Elisama: and Judin read in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes who stood round the king.
Now the king was sitting in the winter house: and [there was] a fire on the hearth before him.
And it came to pass when Judin had read three or four leaves, he cut them off with a penknife, and cast [them] into the fire that was on the hearth, until the whole roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
And the king and his servants that heard all these words sought not [the Lord], and tore not their garments.
But Elnathan and Godolias suggested to the king that he should burn the roll.
And the king commanded Jeremeel the king's son, and Saraeas the son of Esriel, to take Baruch and Jeremias: but they were hidden.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, after the king had burnt the roll, [even] all the words which Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremias, saying,
Again take you another roll, and write all the words that were on the roll, which king Joakim has burnt.
And you shall say, Thus says the Lord; You have burnt this roll, saying, Why have you written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come in, and destroy this land, and man and cattle shall fail from off it?
Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Joakim king of Juda; He shall not have [a man] to sit on the throne of David: and his carcass shall be cast forth in the heat by day, and in the frost by night.
And I will visit him, and his family, and his servants: and I will bring upon him, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the land of Juda, all the evils which I spoke of to them; and they listened not.
And Baruch took another roll, and wrote upon it from the mouth of Jeremias all the words of the book which Joakim had burnt: and there were yet more words added to it like the former.