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But neither King Zedekiah nor his attendants nor the people who were left in the land listened to what the Lord said through Jeremiah.

Jeremiah started to leave the city on his way to the territory of Benjamin, to claim his share of the property among his relatives there.

So the officials took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him by ropes into an empty cistern in the prison yard. It belonged to Malkijah, a member of the royal family. There was no water in the cistern, but there was a thick layer of mud at the bottom, and Jeremiah sank down into it.

In January of the ninth year of King Zedekiah's reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with his entire army to besiege Jerusalem.

The king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as he slaughtered his sons at Riblah. The king of Babylon also slaughtered all the nobles of Judah.

sent messengers to bring Jeremiah out of the prison. They put him under the care of Gedaliah son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, who took him back to his home. So Jeremiah stayed in Judah among his own people.

Ishmael and his ten men suddenly jumped up, drew their swords, and killed Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor.

But as soon as they were all inside the town, Ishmael and his men killed all but ten of them and threw their bodies into a cistern.

Meanwhile, Ishmael and eight of his men escaped from Johanan into the land of Ammon.

Ten days later the Lord gave his reply to Jeremiah.

He said to them, "You sent me to the Lord , the God of Israel, with your request, and this is his reply:

Do not fear the king of Babylon anymore,' says the Lord . ‘For I am with you and will save you and rescue you from his power.

Then say to the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will certainly bring my servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, here to Egypt. I will set his throne over these stones that I have hidden. He will spread his royal canopy over them.

He will set fire to the temples of Egypt's gods; he will burn the temples and carry the idols away as plunder. He will pick clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd picks fleas from his cloak. And he himself will leave unharmed.

All these terrible things happened to you because you have burned incense to idols and sinned against the Lord . You have refused to obey him and have not followed his instructions, his decrees, and his laws."

This is what the Lord says: ‘I will turn Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, over to his enemies who want to kill him, just as I turned King Zedekiah of Judah over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.'"

This message concerning Egypt was given in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, the king of Judah, on the occasion of the battle of Carchemish when Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, and his army were defeated beside the Euphrates River by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

For this is the day of the Lord, the Lord of Heaven's Armies, a day of vengeance on his enemies. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, yes, until it is drunk with your blood! The Lord, the Lord of Heaven's Armies, will receive a sacrifice today in the north country beside the Euphrates River.

There they will say, ‘Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is a loudmouth who missed his opportunity!'

I will hand them over to those who want them killed—to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his army. But afterward the land will recover from the ravages of war. I, the Lord , have spoken!