recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpeh, after the murder that had been committed upon Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, strong men, men of war, and women, and children, and eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon; 17 and they went and dwelt in Geruth-Chimham, which is near Bethlehem. in order to proceed to 18 go into Egypt, out of the reach of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

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CHAP. XLII.

1 THEN all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least even unto the greatest, came near, and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication come humbly before thee, and pray for us unto JEHOVAH thy God, in behalf of all this remnant, (for we remain a few out of many, 3 as thine eyes do see us) that JEHOVAH thy God

may inform us of the way wherein we shall walk, and of the thing which we shall do. 4 And Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I

have heard; behold, I will pray unto JEHOVAH your God according to your words; and it shall be that whatsoever thing JEHOVAH shall answer you, I will declare to you; I will not keep any 5 thing from you. And they said to Jeremiah, Let JEHOVAH be a true and faithful witness among us, if according to whatsoever JEHOVAH thy God shall commission thee to say to us, we do not so

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act. Whether good or bad, we will obey the voice of JEHOVAH our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we shall have obeyed the voice of JEHOVAH Our God

And it came to pass at the end of ten days, that the word of JEHOVAH came unto Jeremiah. 8 Then called he for Johanan the son of Kareah, and for all the captains of the forces that were with him, and for all the people, from the least 9 even unto the greatest, and said unto them, Thus saith JEHOVAH, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to lay your supplication humbly be10 fore him: If ye will indeed remain in this land, then will I build you, and will not pull down; and I will plant you, and will not pluck up; for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto

11 you.

you. Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith JEHOVAH; for I will be with you to save you, 12 and to deliver you out of his hand. And I will shew mercies unto you; and he shall have mercy

upon you, and shall settle you in your own land. 13 But if ye say, We will not remain in this land,

so as not to hearken unto the voice of JEHOVAH 14 your God, saying, No; for we will go into the land of Egypt, that we may not see war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry 15 for bread; and we will reside there: Even now

therefore hear the word of JEHOVAH, O remnant of Judah, Thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts, the God of Israel, If ye will altogether set your faces to 16 enter into Egypt, and will go to sojourn there, and the thing shall be; the sword, of which ye are afraid, shall overtake you there in the land of

Egypt; and the famine, of which ye are apprehensive, shall there follow close after you into 17 Egypt; and ye shall die there. And it shall be

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that all the men, who have set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there, shall die by sword, and by famine, and by pestilence; and there shall not one of them remain, or escape from the evil 18 that I bring upon them. For thus saith JEнOVAH of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my wrath hath been poured out upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem: so shall my wrath be poured out upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt; and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach, and ye shall not see this place any more. The word of JEHOVAH Concerning you, O remnant of Judah, Go ye not into Egypt, ye shall know assuredly; 20 for I have testified to you this day. Surely ye have practised deceit against your own souls: for ye sent me unto JEHOVAH your God, saying, Pray for us unto JEHOVAH our God; and according to all that JEHOVAH our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do. And I have declared unto you this day, but ye have not hearkened unto the voice of JEHOVAH your God, nor to any thing with which he hath commissioned me un to you. Now therefore ye shall know assuredly, that by sword, and by famine, and by pestilence shall ye die in the place, whither ye have chosen to go to sojourn.

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CHAP. XLIII.

1 AND it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the

X

words of JEHOVAH their God with which JEHOVAH their God had commissioned him unto them, 2 all these words; that Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, said, speaking unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsehood; JEHOVAH our God hath not sent thee to say, Ye shall not go into Egypt to 3 sojourn there. But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans to slay us, and to car4 ry us away captive to Babylon. So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of JEHOVAH, to remain in the land of Judah. But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, who were returned from all the nations whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah; 6 the men, and the women, and the children, and the king's daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guards had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah; and they went into the land of Egypt; for they obeyed not the voice of JEHOVAH and they came as far as Tahpanhes.

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Then came the word of JEHOVAH unto Jere9 miah in Tahpanhes, saying, Take in thy hand great stones, and hide them in the clay in the brick kiln, which is at the entrance of the house of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes, in the sight of 10 some men of Judah. And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts, the God of

Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchad

rezzar king of Babylon my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones which I have hidden, and he shall spread forth his splendour over 11 them. And he shall come and smite the land of Egypt, those that are for death, with death; and those that are for captivity, with captivity; and those that are for the sword, with the sword. 12 And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and shall carry them away captive; and he shall clothe himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd clotheth himself with his garment; and he shall go 13 forth from thence in peace. And he shall break

in pieces the images of the house of the Sun, which is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.

CHAP. XLIV.

THE WORD WHICH CAME to JEREMIAH CONCERNING ALL THE JEWS THAT DWELT IN THE LAND of Egypt, THAT DWELT At Migdol, and at TahpanHeS, AND AT Noph, and IN THE COUNTRY OF PATHROS, SAYING:

THUS saith JEHOVAH of hosts, the God of Israel, Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; for, behold, they are a desolation this day, and 3 there is no inhabitant in them, because of their

wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in going to burn incense for to serve strange gods, whom they knew not; they, 4 ye and your fathers. I sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying, Do not, I pray you, this abominable thing $ which I hate. But they hearkened not, nor in