¹ Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of Jehovah's house, which looketh eastward: and behold, at the door of the gate five and twenty men; and I saw in the midst of them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

² And he said unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise iniquity, and that give wicked counsel in this city;

³ that say, [The time] is not near to build houses: this [city] is the caldron, and we are the flesh.

⁴ Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.

⁵ And the Spirit of Jehovah fell upon me, and he said unto me, Speak, Thus saith Jehovah: Thus have ye said, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind.

⁶ Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.

⁷ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this [city] is the caldron; but ye shall be brought forth out of the midst of it.

⁸ Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword upon you, saith the Lord Jehovah.

⁹ And I will bring you forth out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.

¹⁰ Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

¹¹ This [city] shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; I will judge you in the border of Israel;

¹² and ye shall know that I am Jehovah: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither have ye executed mine ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you.

¹³ And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord Jehovah! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

¹⁴ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

¹⁵ Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel, all of them, [are they] unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from Jehovah; unto us is this land given for a possession.

¹⁶ Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they are come.

¹⁷ Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

¹⁸ And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.

¹⁹ And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh;

²⁰ that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

²¹ But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord Jehovah.

²² Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

²³ And the glory of Jehovah went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.

²⁴ And the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.

²⁵ Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that Jehovah had showed me.

¹ Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,

² and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we pray thee, our supplication be presented before thee, and pray for us unto Jehovah thy God, even for all this remnant; for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:

³ that Jehovah thy God may show us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing that we should do.

⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto Jehovah your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass that whatsoever thing Jehovah shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.

⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, Jehovah be a true and faithful witness amongst us, if we do not according to all the word wherewith Jehovah thy God shall send thee to us.

⁶ Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Jehovah our God.

⁷ And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah.

⁸ Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

⁹ and said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him:

¹⁰ If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.

¹¹ Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith Jehovah: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

¹² And I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.

¹³ But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land; so that ye obey not the voice of Jehovah your God,

¹⁴ saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:

¹⁵ now therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, If ye indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;

¹⁶ then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, whereof ye are afraid, shall follow hard after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.

¹⁷ So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there: they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.

¹⁸ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: As mine anger and my wrath hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt; and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.

¹⁹ Jehovah hath spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah, Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have testified unto you this day.

²⁰ For ye have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for ye sent me unto Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us unto Jehovah our God; and according unto all that Jehovah our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it:

²¹ and I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah your God in anything for which he hath sent me unto you.

²² Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go to sojourn there.