by Septuagint
[11] And all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and those that were in Idumea, and those that were in all the rest of the country, heard that the king of Babylon had granted a remnant to Juda, and that he had appointed over them Godolias the son of Achicam. [12] And they came to Godolias into the land of Juda, to Massepha, and gathered grapes, and very much summer fruit, and oil.
[13] And Joanan the son of Caree, and all the leaders of the host, who were in the fields, came to Godolias to Massepha, [14] and said to him, Dost thou indeed know that king Beleissa son of Ammon has sent Ismael to thee to slay thee? But Godolias believed them not. [15] And Joanan said to Godolias secretly in Massepha, I will go now and smite Ismael, and let no man know it; lest he slay thee, and all the Jews that are gathered to thee be dispersed, and the remnant of Juda perish. [16] But Godolias said to Joanan, Do not the thing, for thou speakest lies concerning Ismael.
Chapter 48
[1] Now it came to pass in the seventh month that Ismael the son of Nathanias the son of Eleasa of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, to Godolias to Massepha: and they ate bread there together. [2] And Ismael rose up, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Godolias, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor over the land, [3] and all the Jews that were with him in Massepha, and all the Chaldeans that were found there.
[4] And it came to pass on the second day after he had smitten Godolias, and no man knew of it, [5] that there came men from Sychem, and from Salem, and from Samaria, even eighty men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and beating their breasts, and they had manna and frankincense in their hands, to bring them into the house of the Lord. [6] And Ismael went out to meet them; and they went on and wept: and he said to them, Come in to Godolias. [7] And it came to pass, when they had entered into the midst of the city, that he slew them and cast them into a pit. [8] But ten men were found there, and they said to Ismael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, wheat and barley, honey and oil. So he passed by, and slew them not in the midst of their brethren.
[9] Now the pit into which Ismael cast all whom he smote, is the great pit, which king Asa had made for fear of Baasa king of Israel: even this Ismael filled with slain men.
[10] And Ismael brought back all the people that were left in Massepha, and the king’s daughter, whom the captain of the guard had committed in charge to Godolias the son of Achicam: and he went away beyond the children of Ammon.
[11] And Joanan the son of Caree, and all the leaders of the host that were with him, heard of all the evil deeds which Ismael had done. [12] And they brought all their army, and went to fight against him, and found him near much water in Gabaon. [13] And it came to pass, when all the people that was with Ismael saw Joanan, and the leaders of the host that was with him, [14] that they returned to Joanan. [15] But Ismael escaped with eight men and went to the children of Ammon.
[16] And Joanan, and all the leaders of the host that were with him, took all the remnant of the people, whom he had brought back from Ismael, mighty men in war, and the women, and the other property, and the eunuchs, whom they had brought back from Gabaon: [17] and they departed, and dwelt in Gaberoch-amaa, that is by Bethleem, to go into Egypt, for fear of the Chaldeans: [18] for they were afraid of them, because Ismael had smitten Godolias, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.
Chapter 49
[1] Then came all the leaders of the host, and Joanan, and Azarias the son of Maasaeas, and all the people great and small, [2] to Jeremiah the prophet, and said to him, Let now our supplication come before thy face, and pray thou to the Lord thy God for this remnant; for we are left few out of many, as thine eyes see. [3] And let the Lord thy God declare to us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing which we should do.
[4] And Jeremiah said to them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray for you to the Lord our God, according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever word the Lord God shall answer, I will declare it to you; I will not hide anything from you.
[5] And they said to Jeremiah, Let the Lord be between us for a just and faithful witness, if we do not according to every word which the Lord shall send to us. [6] And whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will hearken to the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, because we shall hearken to the voice of the Lord our God.
[7] And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. [8] And he called Joanan, and the Leaders of the host, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, [9] and he said to them, Thus saith the Lord; [10] If ye will indeed dwell in this land, I will build you, and will not pull you down, but will plant you, and in no wise pluck you up: for I have ceased from the calamities which I brought upon you. [11] Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: for I am with you, to deliver you, and save you out of their hand. [12] And I will grant you mercy, and pity you, and will restore you to your land.
[13] But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, that we may not hearken to the voice of the Lord; [14] for we will go into the land of Egypt, and we shall see no war, and shall not hear the sound of a trumpet, and we shall not hunger for bread; and there we will dwell: [15] then hear the word of the Lord; thus saith the Lord; [16] If ye set your face toward Egypt, and go in there to dwell; then it shall be, that the sword which ye fear shall find you in the land of Egypt, and the famine to which ye have regard, shall overtake you, coming after you in Egypt; and there ye shall die. [17] And all the men, and all the strangers who have set their face toward the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall be consumed by the sword, and by the famine: and there shall not one of them escape from the evils which I bring upon them.
[18] For thus saith the Lord; As my wrath has dropped upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath drop upon you, when ye have entered into Egypt: and ye shall be a desolation, and under the power of others, and a curse and a reproach: and ye shall no more see this place.
[19] These are the words which the Lord has spoken concerning you the remnant of Juda; Enter ye not into Egypt: and now know ye for a certainty, [20] that ye have wrought wickedness in your hearts, when ye sent me, saying, Pray thou for us to the Lord; and according to all that the Lord shall speak to thee we will do. [21] And ye have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord, with which he sent me to you. [22] Now therefore ye shall perish by sword and by famine, in the place which ye desire to go into to dwell there.
Chapter 50
[1] And it came to pass, when Jeremiah ceased speaking to the people all the words of the Lord, for which the Lord had sent him to them, even all these words, [2] that Azarias son of Maasaeas spoke, and Joanan, the son of Caree, and all the men who had spoken to Jeremiah, saying, It is false: the Lord has not sent thee to us, saying, Enter not into Egypt to dwell there: [3] but Baruch the son of Nerias sets thee against us, that thou mayest deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, to kill us, and that we should be carried away captives to Babylon. [4] So Joanan, and all the leaders of the host, and all the people, refused to hearken to the voice of the Lord, to dwell in the land of Juda.
[5] And Joanan, and all the leaders of the host, took all the remnant of Juda, who had returned to dwell in the land; [6] the mighty men, and the women, and the children that were left, and the daughters of the king, and the souls which Nabuzardan and left with Godolias the son of Achicam and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Nerias. [7] And they came into Egypt: for they hearkened not to the voice of the Lord: and they entered into Taphnas.
[8] And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Taphnas, saying, [9] Take thee great stones, and hide them in the entrance, at the gate of the house of Pharao in Taphnas, in the sight of the men of Juda: [10] and thou shalt say, Thus has the Lord said; Behold, I will send, and will bring Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and he shall place his throne upon these stones which thou hast hidden, and he shall l
ift up weapons against them. [11] And he shall enter in, and smite the land of Egypt, delivering some for death to death; and some for captivity to captivity; and some for the sword to the sword. [12] And he shall kindle a fire in the houses of their gods, and shall burn them, and shall carry them away captives: and shall search the land of Egypt, as a shepherd searches his garment; and he shall go forth in peace. [13] And he shall break to pieces the pillars of Heliopolis that are in On, and shall burn their houses with fire.
Chapter 51
[1] THE WORD THAT CAME TO JEREMIAS for all the Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt, and for those settled in Magdolo and in Taphnas, and in the land of Pathura, saying,
[2] Thus has the Lord God of Israel said; Ye have seen all the evils which I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon the cities of Juda; and, behold, they are desolate without inhabitants, [3] because of their wickedness, which they have wrought to provoke me, by going to burn incense to other gods, whom ye knew not. [4] yet I sent to you my servants the prophets early in the morning, and I sent, saying, Do not ye this abominable thing which I hate.
[5] But they hearkened not to me, and inclined not their ear to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn incense to strange gods. [6] So mine anger and my wrath dropped upon them, and was kindled in the gates of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they became a desolation and a waste, as at this day.
[7] And now thus has the Lord Almighty said, Wherefore do ye commit these great evils against your souls? to cut off man and woman of you, infant and suckling from the midst of Juda, to the end that not one of you should be left; [8] by provoking me with the works of your hands, to burn incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, into which ye entered to dwell there, that ye might be cut off, and that ye might become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? [9] Have ye forgotten the sins of your fathers, and the sins of the kings of Juda, and the sins of your princes, and the sins of your wives, which they wrought in the land of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem? [10] And have not ceased even to this day, and they have not kept to my ordinances, which I set before their fathers.
[11] Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold I do set my face against you [12] to destroy all the remnant that are in Egypt; and they shall fall by the sword, and by famine, and shall be consumed small and great: and they shall be for reproach, and for destruction, and for a curse. [13] And I will visit them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have visited Jerusalem, with sword and with famine: [14] and there shall not one be preserved of the remnant of Juda that sojourn in the land of Egypt, to return to the land of Juda, to which they hope in their hearts to return: they shall not return, but only they that escape.
[15] Then all the men that knew that their wives burned incense, and all the women, a great multitude, and all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathura, answered Jeremiah, saying,
[16] As for the word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken to thee. [17] For we will surely perform every word that shall proceed out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour drink-offerings to her, as we and our fathers have done, and our kings and princes, in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem: and so we were filled with bread, and were well, and saw no evils. [18] But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, we have all been brought low, and have been consumed by sword and by famine. [19] And whereas we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured drink-offerings to her, did we make cakes to her, and pour drink-offerings to her, without our husbands?
[20] Then Jeremiah answered all the people, the mighty men, and the women, and all the people that returned him these words for answer, saying, [21] Did not the Lord remember the incense which ye burned in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, and your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land? and came it not into his heart? [22] And the Lord could no longer bear you, because of the wickedness of your doings, and because of your abominations which ye wrought; and so your land became a desolation and a waste, and a curse, as at this day; [23] because of your burning incense, and because of the things wherein ye sinned against the Lord: and ye have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and have not walked in his ordinances, and in his law, and in his testimonies; and so these evils have come upon you.
[24] And Jeremiah said to the people, and to the women, Hear ye the word of the Lord. [25] Thus has the Lord God of Israel said; Ye women have spoken with your mouth, and ye fulfilled it with your hands, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour drink-offerings to her: full well did ye keep to your vows, and ye have indeed performed them. [26] Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, all Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the Lord, my name shall no longer be in the mouth of every Jew to say, The Lord lives, in all the land of Egypt. [27] For I have watched over them, to hurt them, and not to do them good: and all the Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt shall perish by sword and by famine, until they are utterly consumed. [28] And they that escape the sword shall return to the land of Juda few in number, and the remnant of Juda, who have continued in the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall know whose word shall stand.
[29] And this shall be a sign to you, that I will visit you for evil. [30] Thus said the Lord; Behold, I will give Uaphres king of Egypt into the hands of his enemy, and into the hands of one that seeks his life; as I gave Sedekias king of Juda into the hands of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, his enemy, and who sought his life.
Chapter 52
[1] THE WORD WHICH JEREMIAS THE PROPHET spoke to Baruch son of Nerias, when he wrote these words in the book from the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda.
[2] Thus has the Lord said to thee, O Baruch. [3] Whereas thou hast said, Alas! alas! for the Lord has laid a grievous trouble upon me; I lay down in groaning, I found no rest; [4] say thou to him, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I pull down those whom I have built up, and I pluck up those whom I have planted. [5] And wilt thou seek great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but I will give to thee thy life for a spoil in every place whither thou shalt go.
It was the twenty-first ear of Sedekias, when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Amitaal, the daughter of Jeremiah, of Lobena.
[4] And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the ninth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and they made a rampart round it, and built a wall round about it with large stones.
[5] So the city was besieged, until the eleventh year of king Sedekias, [6] on the ninth day of the month, and then the famine was severe in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. [7] And the city was broken up, and all the men of war went out by night by the way of the gate, between the wall and the outworks, which were by the king’s garden; and the Chaldeans were by the city round about; and they went by the way leading to the wilderness. [8] But the host of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the country beyond Jericho; and all his servants were dispersed from about him. [9] And they took the king, and brought him to the king of Babylon to Deblatha, and he judged him. [10] And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Sedekias before his eyes; and he slew all the princes of Juda in Deblatha. [11] And he put out the eyes of Sedekias, and bound him in fetters; and the king of Babylon brought him to Babylon, and put him into the grinding-house, until the day when he died.
[12] And in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nabuzardan the captain of the guard, who waited on the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem; [13] and he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house; and all the houses of the city, and every great house he burnt with fire. [14] And the host of the Chaldeans that was with the capt
ain of the guard pulled down all the wall of Jerusalem round about. [15] 16 But the captain of the guard left the remnant of the people to be vinedressers and husbandmen.
[17] And the Chaldeans broke in pieces the brazen pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the Lord, and they took the brass thereof, and carried it away to Babylon. [18] Also the rim, and the bowls, and the flesh-hooks, and all the brazen vessels, wherewith they ministered; [19] and the basons, and the snuffers, and the oil-funnels, and the candlesticks, and the censers, and the cups, the golden, of gold, and the silver, of silver, the captain of the guard took away. [20] And the two pillars, and the one sea, and the twelve brazen oxen under the sea, which things king Solomon made for the house of the Lord; the brass of which articles was without weight.
[21] And as for the pillars, the height of one pillar was thirty-five cubits; and a line of twelve cubits compassed it round; and the thickness of it all round was four fingers. [22] And there was a brazen chapter upon them, and the length was five cubits, even the height of one Chapiter; and there were on the chapiter round about network and pomegranates, all of brass: and correspondingly the second pillar had eight pomegranates to a cubit for the twelve cubits. [23] And the pomegranates were ninety-six on a side; and all the pomegranates on the network round about were a hundred.
[24] And the captain of the guard took the chief priest, and the second priest, and those that kept the way; [25] and one eunuch, who was over the men of war, and seven men of renown, who were in the king’s presence that were found in the city; and the scribe of the forces, who did the part of a scribe to the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city. [26] And Nabuzardan the captain of the king’s guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Deblatha. [27] And the king of Babylon smote them in Deblatha, in the land of Æmath.
