saith Yahweh: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelemite and his seed; he shall not have one to dwell among you who shall see the good that I will do for My people, saith Yahweh; because he hath spoken perversely against Yahweh. THE FOURTH BOOKLET THE COUNSELS AND WARNINGS OF JEREMIAH BEFORE THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM AND THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH (B.C. 586) (Ch. xxxvii, 1-3, 5-10; xxi, 3-10; xxxvii, 11-22, 4; xxxviii, 1-13, 28; xxxiv, 1-22; xxxii, 1a, 2a, 6-15; xxxix, 1a, 3, 14-18) Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land hearkened unto the words of Yahweh, which He spake by the prophet Jeremiah. And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying: Pray now unto Yahweh, our God, for me. Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not yet put him in prison. And Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldæans that were besieging Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they broke up from before Jerusalem. Then came the word of Yahweh unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying: Thus saith the God of Israel, Yahweh: Thus shalt thou say unto the king of Judah that sent thee unto Me to inquire of Me: Behold, Pharaoh's army which is come forth to help you shall return to Egypt, to their own land. And the Chaldæans shall return and fight against this city; and they shall take it and burn it with fire. Thus saith Yahweh: Deceive not yourselves, saying: The Chaldæans shall surely depart from us; they shall not depart. For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldæans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire. Then said Jeremiah unto them: Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah: Thus saith Yahweh the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldæans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will gather them into the midst of this city. And I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched arm and with a strong hand, even in anger and in fury, and in great wrath. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence. And afterward, saith Yahweh, I will deliver Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his servants and the people and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, of those that seek their life; and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy. And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith Yahweh: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He that abideth in the city shall die by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence; but he that goeth out and falleth to the Chaldæans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. For I have set My face against this city for evil and not for good, saith Yahweh; it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, . Ye that say: Who can come against us? Who can enter our strongholds? I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds, saith Yahweh. I will kindle a fire in her forest that shall consume All that is round about her. And it came to pass that, when the army of the Chaldæans was broken up for fear of Pharoah's army, that Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin to receive his portion there in the midst of his people. And when he was in the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward, whose name was Irijah, took Jeremiah the prophet, saying: Thou fallest away to the Chaldæans. Then said Jeremiah: It is false; I fall not away to the Chaldæans. But he hearkened not to him; so Irijah took Jeremiah and brought him to the princes. Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison. When Jeremiah was come into the dungeon-house and into the cells, and had remained there many days, Zedekiah the king sent and took him out; and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said: Is there any word from Yahweh? And Jeremiah said: There is; for, said He, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. Moreover Jeremiah said unto King Zedekiah, What have I done against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? Where now are your prophets that prophesied unto you, saying: The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land? And now, hear, I pray thee, O my lord the king; let my supplication, I pray thee, be presented before thee, that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard; and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard, and went in and out among the people, for they had not put him in durance. Now Shephatieth the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah spake unto all the people, saying: Thus saith Yahweh: He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine and by the pestilence; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldæans shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. Thus saith Yahweh: This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. Then the princes said unto the king: Let this man, we pray thee, be put to death; forasmuch as he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people in speaking such words as these. For this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. Then said Zedekiah the king: Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he that can do anything against you. Then took they Jeremiah and cast him into the pit of Malchiah, the king's son, that was in the court of the guard; and they let him down with cords. And in the pit there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire. Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an officer who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the pit, (the king then sitting in the Gate of Benjamin) Ebed-melech went forth out of the king's house and spake to the king, saying: My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the pit; and he is like to die in the place where he is on account of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city. Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying: Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the pit before he die. So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence worn clouts and rags, and let them down by cords into the pit to Jeremiah. And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah: Put now these old worn-out clouts and rags under thine armpits under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah by the cords, and took him out of the pit; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard, and abode in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.' The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh when Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and all his army and all the kingdoms of the land of his dominion and all the peoples, fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah. Thus saith Yahweh: Go to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and tell him: Thus saith Yahweh: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire; and thou shalt not escape out of his hand. And thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. Yet hear the word of Yahweh, O Zedekiah, king of Judah; thus saith Yahweh concerning thee: Thou shalt not die by the sword, thou shalt die in peace; and like the burnings of thy fathers, the kings that were before thee, so shall they make a burning for thee; and they shall lament thee,-Ah, lord! for I have spoken the word, saith Yahweh. Thus Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah, king of Judah, while the king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah that were left, Lachish and Azekah; for these alone remained of the fortified cities of Judah. The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem to proclaim unto them a liberation: that every man should let his manservant and his maid-servant go free, if they were Hebrews; that none should make bondmen of them, being Judæans, his brethren; and all the princes and all the people hearkened, and entered into the covenant and let them go free. But afterwards they turned and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection again. Therefore the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying: Thus saith Yahweh the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying: At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man that is Hebrew that hath been sold unto thee and hath served thee six years; thou shalt let him go free; but your fathers hearkened not unto Me, nor inclined their ear. But ye had 1 Verses 14-27 are a later and inaccurate version of the secret interview between Jeremiah and the king, already given in Ch. xxxvii. It gives the impression of two such interviews, where a closer study shows that there was but one. It is an excellent illustration of the difficulty of reconciling the accounts in the several booklets which has not yet been entirely overcome. now turned and had done that which is right in Mine eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and ye had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name. Now ye have turned and profaned My name, and caused, every man of you, his servant and his handmaid whom ye had let go free at his pleasure, to return and be in subjection again. Therefore thus saith Yahweh: Ye have not hearkened unto Me to proclaim freedom every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor;-now I proclaim for you freedom, saith Yahweh, to become the prey of the sword and of famine and of the pestilence; and I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And I will give the men that have transgressed My covenant, that have not performed the words of the covenant they made before Me,when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,the princes of Judah and the rulers of Jerusalem, the officers and the priests and all the people; I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and their dead bodies shall be for food unto the fowls of heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. And Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, even into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which has gone away from you. Behold, I will command, saith Yahweh, and cause them to return to this city, and they shall fight against it and take it, and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant. A word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, while the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem. And Jeremiah said, The word of Yahweh came unto me, saying: Behold, Hanamel, the son of Shallum thine uncle, shall come unto thee, saying: Buy my field that is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption to buy it is thine. So Hanamel, mine uncle's son, came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of Yahweh, and said unto me: Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine. Buy it for thyself. Then I knew that it was the word of Yahweh. And I bought the field that was in Anathoth of mine uncle's son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. And I signed the deed and sealed it and called witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. Then I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed containing the terms and conditions, and that which was open; and I delivered the deed of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the presence of Hanamel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the deed of the purchase, before all the Judæans that sat in the court of the guard. And I charged Baruch before them, saying: Thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, this deed of purchase which is sealed, and this deed which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may remain many days. For thus saith Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall yet again be bought in this land. And it came to pass, when Jerusalem was taken, that all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the middle gate,-Nergalsharezer, Nebushazban, and all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon. And they sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home. So he dwelt among the people. Now the word of Yahweh had come unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying: Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying: Thus saith Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring to pass My words for evil upon this city, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished before thee in that day. But I will deliver thee in that day, saith Yahweh, and thou shalt not be given into the hands of the men of whom thou art afraid. For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword; but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee, because thou hast put thy trust in Yahweh. THE FIFTH BOOKLET EVENTS IN JUDAH AFTER ITS CONQUEST, AND THE PART TAKEN BY JEREMIAH IN THE DISSENSIONS OF THE PEOPLE (584 B.C.) (Ch. xxxix, 1b, 2, 4-12; xl, 1-16; xli, 1-18; xlii, 1-22; xliii, 1-13) In the ninth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and all his army against Jerusalem and beseiged it; in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city wall. And when Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and all the men of war saw it, they fled and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the king's garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldæans pursued after them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed judgment upon him. Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes; also he slew all the nobles of Judah. Moreover he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon. And the Chaldæans burned the king's house and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, the deserters also that fell away to him; but Nebuzaradan left the poor of the people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields in that day. Now Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying: Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee. The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, whither he had taken him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah that were being carried away captive unto Babylon. And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him: Yahweh thy God pronounced this evil upon this place and Yahweh hath brought it and done according as He spake; because ye have sinned against Yahweh, and have not hearkened to His voice; therefore is this thing come upon you. And now, behold, this day I loose thee from the chains which are upon thy hand. If it seem good to thee to come with me to Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee. But if it seem ill unto thee to come with me to Babylon, forbear; behold, all the land is before thee; whither it seemeth good and right unto thee to go, go thither. (Yet he would not go). Go back then to Gedaliah the son of |