The Fall of Jerusalem and the Fate of Jeremiah

Chapter 39

¹In the ninth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the tenth month, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon moved against Jerusalem with his whole army, and they laid siege to it. ²And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, on the ninth day of the fourth month, the [walls of] the city were breached. [ . . . ]

⁸The Chaldeans burned down the king’s palace and the houses of the people by fire, and they tore down the walls of Jerusalem. ⁹The remnant of the people that was left in the city, and the defectors who had gone over to him—the remnant of the people that was left— were exiled by Nebuzaradan, the chief of the guards, to Babylon. ¹⁰But some of the poorest people who owned nothing were left in the land of Judah by Nebuzaradan, the chief of the guards, and he gave them vineyards and fields at that time. ¹¹King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon had given orders to Nebuzaradan, the chief of the guards, concerning Jeremiah: ¹²“Take him and look after him; do him no harm, but grant whatever he asks of you.” [ . . . ]

Chapter 40

²The chief of the guards took charge of Jeremiah, and he said to him, “The Lord your God threatened this place with this disaster; ³and now the Lord has brought it about. He has acted as He threatened, because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey Him. That is why this has happened to you. ⁴Now, I release you this day from the fetters which were on your hands. If you would like to go with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you. And if you don’t want to come with me to Babylon, you need not. See, the whole land is before you: go wherever seems good and right to you.”—⁵But [Jeremiah] still did not turn back.—“Or go to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has put in charge of the towns of Judah, and stay with him among the people, or go wherever you want to go.”

The chief of the guards gave him an allowance of food, and dismissed him. ⁶So Jeremiah came to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land. [ . . . ]

Chapter 42

¹Then all the army officers, with Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the rest of the people, great and small, approached ²the prophet Jeremiah and said, “Grant our plea, and pray for us to the Lord your God, for all this remnant! For we remain but a few out of many, as you can see. ³Let the Lord your God tell us where we should go and what we should do.” [ . . . ]

⁵[ . . . ] “We swear that we will do exactly as the Lord your God instructs us through you—⁶Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the Lord our God to whom we send you, in order that it may go well with us when we obey the Lord our God.”

⁷After ten days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁸He called Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers, and the rest of the people, great and small, ⁹and said to them, “Thus said the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him: ¹⁰If you remain in this land, I will build you and not overthrow, I will plant you and not uproot; for I regret the punishment I have brought upon you. ¹¹Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you fear; do not be afraid of him—declares the Lord—for I am with you to save you and to rescue you from his hands. ¹²I will dispose him to be merciful to you: he shall show you mercy and bring you back to your own land.

¹³“But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land’—thus disobeying the Lord your God—¹⁴if you say, ‘No! We will go to the land of Egypt, so that we may not see war or hear the sound of the horn, and so that we may not hunger for bread; there we will stay,’ ¹⁵then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah! Thus said the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you turn your faces toward Egypt, and you go and sojourn there, ¹⁶the sword that you fear shall overtake you there, in the land of Egypt, and the famine you worry over shall follow at your heels in Egypt too; and there you shall die. [ . . . ]

Chapter 43

¹When Jeremiah had finished speaking all these words to all the people— [ . . . ] ²Azariah son of Hos-haiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The Lord our God did not send you to say, ‘Don’t go to Egypt and sojourn there’! ³It is Baruch son of Neriah who is inciting you against us, so that we will be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans to be killed or to be exiled to Babylon!”

⁴So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and the rest of the people did not obey the Lord’s command to remain in the land of Judah. ⁵Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers took the entire remnant of Judah—those who had returned from all the countries to which they had been scattered and had sojourned in the land of Judah, ⁶men, women, and children; and the daughters of the king and all the people whom Nebuzaradan the chief of the guards had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, as well as the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch son of Neriah—⁷and they went to Egypt. They did not obey the Lord. [ . . . ]