1 Then all the commanders of the forces, along with Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached 2Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the Lord your God on behalf of this entire remnant. For few of us remain of the many, as you can see with your own eyes. 3Pray that the Lord your God will tell us the way we should walk and the thing we should do.”

4“I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will surely pray to the Lord your God as you request, and I will tell you everything that the Lord answers. I will not withhold a word from you.”

5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act upon every word that the Lord your God sends you to tell us. 6Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God!”

7 After ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, 8and he summoned Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.

9 Jeremiah told them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition: 10‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I will relent of the disaster I have brought upon you.

11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear; do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you to save you and deliver you from him. 12And I will show you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own land.’

13 But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and you thus disobey the voice of the Lord your God, 14and if you say, ‘No, but we will go to the land of Egypt and live there, where we will not see war or hear the sound of the ram’s horn or hunger for bread,’ 15then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah! This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and reside there, 16then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow on your heels into Egypt, and you will die there. 17So all who resolve to go to Egypt to reside there will die by sword and famine and plague. Not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring upon them.’

18 For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and wrath were poured out on the residents of Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’

19 The Lord has told you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for sure that I have warned you today! 20For you have deceived yourselves by sending me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray to the Lord our God on our behalf, and as for all that the Lord our God says, tell it to us and we will do it.’

21 For I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in all He has sent me to tell you. 22Now therefore, know for sure that by sword and famine and plague you will die in the place where you desire to go to reside.”

1 When Jeremiah had finished telling all the people all the words of the Lord their God— everything that the Lord had sent him to say— 2Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to reside there.’ 3Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, so that they may put us to death or exile us to Babylon!”

4 So Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces disobeyed the command of the Lord to stay in the land of Judah. 5Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the whole remnant of Judah, those who had returned to the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been scattered, 6the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as well as Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah.

7 So they entered the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the Lord, and they went as far as Tahpanhes.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes: 9“In the sight of the Jews, pick up some large stones and bury them in the clay of the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes.

10 Then tell them that this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones that I have embedded, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them. 11He will come and strike down the land of Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword.

12 I will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar will burn those temples and take their gods as captives. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself in his garment, and he will depart from there unscathed. 13He will demolish the sacred pillars of the temple of the sun in the land of Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in the land of Egypt— in Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis— and in the land of Pathros: 2“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster that I brought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, they lie today in ruins and desolation 3because of the evil they have done.

They provoked Me to anger by continuing to burn incense and to serve other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew. 4Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.’

5 But they did not listen or incline their ears; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. 6Therefore My wrath and anger poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so that they have become the desolate ruin they are today.

7 So now, this is what the Lord God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves by cutting off from Judah man and woman, child and infant, leaving yourselves without a remnant? 8Why are you provoking Me to anger by the work of your hands by burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to reside?

As a result, you will be cut off and will become an object of cursing and reproach among all the nations of the earth. 9Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers and of the kings of Judah and their wives, as well as the wickedness that you and your wives committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed My instruction or the statutes that I set before you and your fathers.

11 Therefore this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will set My face to bring disaster and to cut off all Judah. 12And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have resolved to go to the land of Egypt to reside there; they will meet their end. They will all fall by the sword or be consumed by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine; and they will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and reproach.

13 I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, just as I punished Jerusalem, by sword and famine and plague, 14so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone to reside in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, where they long to return and live; for none will return except a few fugitives.”

15 Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women standing by— a great assembly— along with all the people living in the land of Egypt and in Pathros, said to Jeremiah, 16“As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you! 17Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.

At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster. 18But from the time we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been perishing by sword and famine.”

19“Moreover,” said the women, “when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ knowledge that we made sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, 21“As for the incense you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem— you, your fathers, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land— did the Lord not remember and bring this to mind? 22So the Lord could no longer endure the evil deeds and detestable acts you committed, and your land became a desolation, a horror, and an object of cursing, without inhabitant, as it is this day. 23Because you burned incense and sinned against the Lord and did not obey the voice of the Lord or walk in His instruction, His statutes, and His testimonies, this disaster has befallen you, as you see today.”

1 You therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2And the things that you have heard me say among many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be qualified to teach others as well.

3 Join me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4A soldier refrains from entangling himself in civilian affairs, in order to please the one who enlisted him. 5Likewise, a competitor does not receive the crown unless he competes according to the rules. 6The hardworking farmer should be the first to partake of the crops. 7Consider what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all things.

8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David, as proclaimed by my gospel, 9for which I suffer to the extent of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained! 10For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

11 This is a trustworthy saying:

14 Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin.

15 Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth.

16 But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness, 17and the talk of such men will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18who have deviated from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already occurred, and they undermine the faith of some.

19 Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”

20 A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use. 21So if anyone cleanses himself of what is unfit, he will be a vessel for honor: sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work.