¹ Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

² Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say to them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their borders, and set him for their watchman:

³ If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he shall blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

⁴ Then whoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword shall come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

⁵ He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.

⁶ But if the watchman shall see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword shall come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

⁷ So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

⁸ When I say to the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

⁹ Nevertheless, if thou shalt warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he shall not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

¹⁰ Therefore, O thou son of man, speak to the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?

¹¹ Say to them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked should turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

¹² Therefore, thou son of man, say to the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.

¹³ When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he shall trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

¹⁴ Again, when I say to the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he shall turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;

¹⁵ If the wicked shall restore the pledge, give again that which he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

¹⁶ None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned to him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

¹⁷ Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.

¹⁸ When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, for that he shall even die.

¹⁹ But if the wicked shall turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, for that he shall live.

²⁰ Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.

²¹ And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city is smitten.

²² Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, before he that had escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.

²³ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²⁴ Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given to us for inheritance.

²⁵ Wherefore say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes towards your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?

²⁶ Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbor's wife: and shall ye possess the land?

²⁷ Say thou thus to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that are in the forts and in the caves shall die by the pestilence.

²⁸ For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through.

²⁹ Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.

³⁰ Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.

³¹ And they come to thee as the people come, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.

³² And lo, thou art to them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do not perform them.

³³ And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.

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 to the greatest, came near.

² And said to Jeremiah the prophet, We beseech thee, let our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us to the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thy eyes do behold us:)

³ That the LORD thy God may show us the way in which we may walk, and the thing that we may do.

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

⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for which The LORD thy God shall send thee to us.

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

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

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

⁹ And said to them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, to 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 of the evil that I have done to you.

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

¹² And I will show mercies to you, 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, neither obey the voice of the LORD 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 hunger for bread; and there will we dwell:

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

¹⁶ Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which ye were afraid, shall follow close 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 the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As my anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem: so shall my fury 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 The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.

²⁰ For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me to the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us to the LORD our God; and according to all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it.

²¹ And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for which he hath sent me to 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 and to sojourn.