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Jeremiah Is Taken to Egypt

43 I finished telling the people everything that the Lord their God had sent me to tell them. Then Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the other arrogant men said to me, “You are lying. The Lord our God did not send you to tell us not to go and live in Egypt. Baruch son of Neriah has stirred you up against us, so that the Babylonians will gain power over us and can either kill us or take us away to Babylonia.” So neither Johanan nor any of the army officers nor any of the people would obey the Lord's command to remain in the land of Judah. (A)Then Johanan and all the army officers took everybody left in Judah away to Egypt, together with all the people who had returned from the nations where they had been scattered: the men, the women, the children, and the king's daughters. They took everyone whom Nebuzaradan the commanding officer had left under the care of Gedaliah, including Baruch and me. They disobeyed the Lord's command and went into Egypt as far as the city of Tahpanhes.

There the Lord said to me, “Get some large stones and bury them in the mortar of the pavement[a] in front of the entrance to the government building here in the city, and let some of the Israelites see you do it. 10 Then tell them that I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, am going to bring my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to this place, and he[b] will put his throne over these stones that you[c] buried, and will spread the royal tent over them. 11 Nebuchadnezzar will come and defeat Egypt. Those people who are doomed to die of disease will die of disease, those doomed to be taken away as prisoners will be taken away as prisoners, and those doomed to be killed in war will be killed in war. 12 I will set fire to the temples of Egypt's gods, and the king of Babylonia will either burn their gods or carry them off. As shepherds pick their clothes clean of lice, so the king of Babylonia will pick the land of Egypt clean and then leave victorious. 13 He will destroy the sacred stone monuments at Heliopolis in Egypt and will burn down the temples of the Egyptian gods.”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 43:9 Probable text bury them … pavement; Hebrew unclear.
  2. Jeremiah 43:10 Some ancient translations he; Hebrew I.
  3. Jeremiah 43:10 Some ancient translations you; Hebrew I.

43 When Jeremiah had finished telling the people all the words of the Lord their God—everything the Lord had sent him to tell them(A) Azariah son of Hoshaiah(B) and Johanan(C) son of Kareah and all the arrogant(D) men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying!(E) The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’(F) But Baruch(G) son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians,[a] so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.”(H)

So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people(I) disobeyed the Lord’s command(J) to stay in the land of Judah.(K) Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered.(L) They also led away all those whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan—the men, the women,(M) the children and the king’s daughters. And they took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch(N) son of Neriah along with them. So they entered Egypt(O) in disobedience to the Lord and went as far as Tahpanhes.(P)

In Tahpanhes(Q) the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “While the Jews are watching, take some large stones(R) with you and bury them in clay in the brick(S) pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace(T) in Tahpanhes. 10 Then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant(U) Nebuchadnezzar(V) king of Babylon, and I will set his throne(W) over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy(X) above them. 11 He will come and attack Egypt,(Y) bringing death(Z) to those destined(AA) for death, captivity to those destined for captivity,(AB) and the sword to those destined for the sword.(AC) 12 He will set fire(AD) to the temples(AE) of the gods(AF) of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive.(AG) As a shepherd picks(AH) his garment clean of lice, so he will pick Egypt clean and depart. 13 There in the temple of the sun[b](AI) in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars(AJ) and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 43:3 Or Chaldeans
  2. Jeremiah 43:13 Or in Heliopolis