In Egypt Jeremiah Warns of Judgment

43 But as soon as Jeremiah, whom the Lord their God had sent to them, had (A)finished telling all the people all the words of the Lord their God—that is, all these words— Azariah the (B)son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are (C)telling a lie! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You are not to enter Egypt to reside there’; but (D)Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us in order to hand us over to the Chaldeans, so they will put us to death or exile us to Babylon!” So (E)Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces, and all the people, (F)did not obey the voice of the Lord to (G)stay in the land of Judah. Instead, Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the (H)entire remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been scattered, in order to reside in the land of Judah— the men, the women, the [a]children, the (I)king’s daughters, and (J)every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam [b]and grandson of Shaphan, together with (K)Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah— and they entered the land of Egypt (for they did not obey the voice of the Lord) and went in as far as (L)Tahpanhes.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in (M)Tahpanhes, saying, “Take some large stones in your [c]hands and hide them in the [d]mortar in the brick terrace which is at the entrance of Pharaoh’s [e]palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of [f]some of the Jews; 10 and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to send men and get (N)My servant (O)Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and I am going to set his throne over these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his [g](P)canopy over them. 11 He will also come and (Q)strike the land of Egypt; those who are meant for death will be given over to death, and those for captivity to captivity, and (R)those for the sword to the sword. 12 And [h]I shall set fire to the temples of the (S)gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive. So he will [i](T)wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd [j]wraps himself with his garment, and he will depart from there safely. 13 He will also smash to pieces the [k]obelisks of [l]Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the temples of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.”’”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 43:6 Lit infants
  2. Jeremiah 43:6 Lit the son
  3. Jeremiah 43:9 Lit hand
  4. Jeremiah 43:9 Or clay floor
  5. Jeremiah 43:9 Lit house
  6. Jeremiah 43:9 Lit men
  7. Jeremiah 43:10 Or carpet
  8. Jeremiah 43:12 Some ancient versions He will set
  9. Jeremiah 43:12 Or delouse the land
  10. Jeremiah 43:12 Or delouses his garment
  11. Jeremiah 43:13 Or stone pillars
  12. Jeremiah 43:13 Heb Beth-shemesh; i.e., the house of the sun-god

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