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because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

and said to Jeremiah the prophet, "Please let our supplication come before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, that is for all this remnant, because we remain but a few out of many, as your own eyes now see us,

Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were with him, and for all the people both small and great,

‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I have relented of the calamity that I have done against you.

Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,' declares Yahweh, ‘for I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand.

saying, "No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there,"

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "As My anger and wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation, and a reproach; and you will see this place no more."

For you have only led yourselves astray; for it is you who sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, "Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and according to all that Yahweh our God says, tell us so, and we will do it."

and they entered the land of Egypt (for they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh) and went in as far as Tahpanhes.

He will also come and strike the land of Egypt; those who are meant for death will be given over to death, and those for captivity to captivity, and those for the sword to the sword.

The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, those who were living in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and the land of Pathros, saying,

"Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to set My face against you for your evil demise, even to cut off all Judah.

So there will be no one who escapes or any survivors for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to sojourn there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are longing to return to live; for none will return except a few who escape.'"

"As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we are not going to listen to you!

But rather we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our fathers, our kings, and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food and were well off and saw no evil.

"And," said the women, "when we were burning incense to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?"

"As for the smoking sacrifices that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not Yahweh remember them and did not all this come upon His heart?

thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, "We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her." Go ahead and establish your vows, and certainly perform your vows!'

Behold, I am watching over them for evil and not for good, and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will meet their end by the sword and by famine until they are completely consumed.

This will be the sign to you,' declares Yahweh, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that My words will surely be established against you for evil.'