All the officials did indeed come and question Jeremiah. ¹  He told them exactly what the king had instructed him to say. ²  They stopped questioning him any further because no one had actually heard their conversation. ³ 

So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah ¹  and lived there with him. He stayed there to live among the people who had been left in the land of Judah. ² 

The prophet Jeremiah answered them, “Agreed! ¹  I will indeed pray to the Lord your God as you have asked. I will tell you everything the Lord replies in response to you. ²  I will not keep anything back from you.”

They answered Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not do just as ¹  the Lord sends you to tell us to do.

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah concerning ¹  all the Judeans who were living in the land of Egypt, those in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in the region of southern Egypt. ² 

Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people, particularly to all the women. ¹  “Listen to what the Lord has to say all you people of Judah who are in Egypt.

The Lord told Jeremiah, ¹  “Tell Baruch, ²  ‘The Lord says, “I am about to tear down what I have built and to uproot what I have planted. I will do this throughout the whole earth. ³ 

This is the order Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went to King Zedekiah of Judah in Babylon during the fourth year of his reign. ¹  (Seraiah was a quartermaster.) ² 

Then say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the judgments ¹  I am ready to bring upon her; they will grow faint.’” The prophecies of Jeremiah end here. ² 

¹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem ²  for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal ³  daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.

Then what was spoken by Jeremiah ¹  the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty silver coins, the price of the one whose price had been set by the people of Israel, ² 

Before Jeremiah could turn to leave, the captain of the guard added, “Go back ¹  to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed to govern ²  the towns of Judah. Go back and live with him ³  among the people. Or go wherever else you choose.” Then the captain of the guard gave Jeremiah some food and a present and let him go.

¹ In the first ²  year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the Lord’s message ³  spoken through ⁴  Jeremiah, ⁵  the Lord stirred the mind ⁶  of King Cyrus of Persia. He disseminated ⁷  a proclamation ⁸  throughout his entire kingdom, announcing in a written edict ⁹  the following:

When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done. ¹  You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods. ² 

“So then, Jeremiah, ¹  when your people ²  ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ tell them, ‘It is because you rejected me and served foreign gods in your own land. So ³  you must serve foreigners ⁴  in a land that does not belong to you.’

Then the Lord said, ¹  “As for you, Jeremiah, ²  do not pray for these people! Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf! Do not plead with me to save them, ³  because I will not listen to you.

So, Jeremiah, ¹  do not pray for these people. Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf. Do not plead with me to save them. ²  For I will not listen to them when they call out to me for help when disaster strikes them.” ³ 

Then some people ¹  said, “Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! ²  There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. ³  Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! ⁴  Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.”

Tell them the Lord who rules over all says, ¹  ‘I will do just as Jeremiah has done. ²  I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter’s vessel which is broken beyond repair. ³  The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.’ ⁴ 

The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, ¹  when one of these people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, ‘What burdensome message ²  do you have from the Lord?’ Tell them, ‘You are the burden, ³  and I will cast you away. ⁴  I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁵