Study Desk

But after they were inside the town, Ishmael had his soldiers kill them and throw their bodies into a well.

Nebuzaradan, King Nebuchadnezzar's officer in charge of the guard, had left King Zedekiah's daughters and many other people at Mizpah, and he had put Gedaliah in charge of them. But now Ishmael took them all prisoner and led them toward Ammon, on the other side of the Jordan River.

But Ishmael and eight of his men escaped and went to Ammon.

and said, "Please pray to the Lord your God for us. Judah used to have many people, but as you can see, only a few of us are left.

But you might keep on saying, "We won't stay here in Judah, and we won't obey the Lord our God.

You are afraid of war, starvation, and disease here in Judah, but they will follow you to Egypt and kill you there. None of you will survive the disasters I will send.

I told the people: You escaped the disaster that struck Judah, but now the Lord warns you to stay away from Egypt.

You asked me to pray and find out what the Lord our God wants you to do, and you promised to obey him. But that was a terrible mistake,

But Azariah, Johanan and some other arrogant men said to me, "You're lying! The Lord didn't tell you to say that we shouldn't go to Egypt.

but they refused to listen and would not stop worshiping other gods.

Finally, my anger struck like a raging flood, and today Jerusalem and the towns of Judah are nothing but empty ruins.

Why do you now insist on heading for another disaster? A disaster that will destroy not only you, but also your children and babies.

There were only a few of you left in Judah, and you decided to go to Egypt. But you will die such horrible deaths in war or from starvation, that people of other countries will use the name of Judah as a curse word.

None of you will survive. You may hope to return to Judah someday, but only a very few of you will escape death and be able to go back.

But since the time we stopped burning incense and offering wine sacrifices to her, we have been dying from war and hunger.

Keep these promises! But let me tell you what will happen. As surely as I am the Lord God, I swear that I will never again accept any promises you make in my name.

But all over the earth I am tearing down what I built and pulling up what I planted.

You are strong and run fast, but you can't escape. You fall in battle near the Euphrates River.

But the Lord All-Powerful will win this battle and take revenge on his enemies. His sword will eat them and drink their blood until it is full. They will be killed in the north near the Euphrates River, as a sacrifice to the Lord .

When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia was on his way to attack Egypt, the Lord sent me with a warning for every Egyptian town, but especially for Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes. He said to tell them: Prepare to defend yourselves! Everywhere in your nation, people are dying in war. <