CHAPTER 43

1 And it was that when Jeremiah had finished to speak to all the people all the words of Jehovah their God, for which Jehovah their God had sent him to them all, even for these words,

2 Then Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, said, speaking to Jeremiah, Falsehood dost thou speak; Jehovah our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not to Egypt to sojourn there;

3 But Baruch, the son of Neriah, rouses thee against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, to slay us and to remove us to Babylon.

4 So Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the forces and the whole people, did not hearken to the voice of Jehovah, to dwell in the land of Judah:

5 But Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the forces, took the remnant of Judah, who had returned from all the nations, to which they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah,

6 Even the men, and the women, and the children, and the king’s daughters, and every soul which Nebuzar-adan, the prince of the executioners, had left with Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son Shaphan, and with Jeremiah the prophet, and with Baruch, the son of Neriah;

7 And they went into the land of Egypt; for they did not obey the voice of Jehovah; and they came as far as Tahpanhes.

8 And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, —

9 Take in thine hand great stones, and hide them in the clay in the brick-kiln, which is by the gate of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;

10 And thou shalt say to them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne on these stones, which I have hid, and he shall spread his tent over them;

11 And he shall come and smite the land of Egypt, those for death to death, and those for captivity to captivity, and those for the sword to the sword;

12 And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive, and roll up the land of Egypt as a shepherd rolls up his garment; and he shall go forth thence in peace:

13 And he shall break in pieces the statues of Beth-shemesh, which is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire.