Jeremiah 43
1 [So] I finished telling to the people that message from Yahweh our God.
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,
2 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!
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:
3 [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.”
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.
4 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.
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.
5 Johanan and all the [other] leaders gathered together all the people who had returned from the other countries to which they had been scattered.
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;
6 [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.
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;
7 They refused to obey Yahweh, and they took us all [to Egypt], as far as Tahpenes [city].
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.
8 [While we were] at Tahpenes, Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
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.
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;
10 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].
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.
11 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.
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.
12 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.”’”
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.
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.
