¹ The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, after that Nabuzardan the general had let him go from Rama, when he had taken him, being bound with chains, among all them that were carried away from Jerusalem and Juda, and were carried to Babylon.

² And the general of the army taking Jeremias, said to him: The Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place,

³ And he hath brought it : and the Lord hath done as he hath said: because you have sinned against the Lord, and have not hearkened to his voice, and this word is come upon you.

⁴ Now then behold I have loosed thee this day from the chains which were upon thy hands: if it please thee to come with me to Babylon, come : and I will set my eyes upon thee: but if it do not please thee to come with me to Babylon, stay here: behold all the land is before thee, as thou shalt choose, and whither it shall please thee to go, thither go.

⁵ And come not with me: but dwell with Godolias the son of Ahicam the son of Saphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Juda: dwell therefore with him in the midst of the people: or whithersoever it shall please thee to go, go. And the general of the army gave him victuals and presents, and let him go.

⁶ And Jeremias went to Godolias the son of Ahicam to Masphath: and dwelt with him in the midst of the people that were left in the land.

⁷ And when all the captains of the army that were scattered through the countries, they and their companions, had heard that the king of Babylon had made Godolias the son of Ahicam governor of the country, and that he had committed unto him men and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, them that had not been carried away captive to Babylon:

⁸ They came to Godolias to Masphath: and Ismahel the son of Nathanias, and Johanan, and Jonathan, the sons of Caree, and Sareas the son of Thanehumeth, and the children of Ophi, that were of Netophathi, and Jezonias the son of Maachati, they and their men.

⁹ And Godolias the son of Ahicam the son of Saphan swore to them and to their companions, saying: Fear not to serve the Chaldeass: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

¹⁰ Behold I dwell in Masphath, that I may answer the commandment of the Chaldeans that are sent to us: but as for you, gather ye the vintage, and the harvest, and the oil, and lay it up in your vessels, and abide in your cities which you hold.

¹¹ Moreover all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and in all the countries, when they heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judea, and that he had made Godolias the son of Ahicam the son of Saphan ruler over them:

¹² All the Jews, I say, returned out of all the places to which they had fled, and they came into the land of Juda to Godolias to Masphath: and they gathered wine, and a very great harvest.

¹³ Then Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the army, that had been scattered about in the countries, came to Godolias to Masphath.

¹⁴ And they said to him: Know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon hath sent Ismahel the son of Nathanias to kill thee. And Godolias the son of Ahicam believed them not.

¹⁵ But Johanan the son of Caree, spoke to Oodolias privately in Masphath, saying: I will go, and I will kill Ismahel the son of Nathanias, and no man shall know it, lest he kill thee, and all the Jews be scattered, that are gathered unto thee, and the remnant of Juda perish.

¹⁶ And Codolias the son of Ahicam said to Johanan the son of Cares: Do not this thing: for what thou sayst of Ismahel is false.

¹ In the ninth year of Sedecias king of Juda, in the tenth month, came Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and all his army to Jerusalem, and they besieged it.

² And in the eleventh year of Sedecias, in the fourth month, the fifth day of the month, the city was opened.

³ And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate: Neregel, Sereser, Semegarnabu, Sarsachim, Rabsares, Neregel, Serezer, Rebmag, and all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.

⁴ And when Sedecias the king of Juda and all the men of war saw them, they fled: and they went forth in the night out of the city by the way of the king's garden, and by the gate that was between the two walls, and they went; out to the way of the desert.

⁵ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them: and they took Sedecias in the plain of the desert of Jericho, and when they had taken him, they brought him to Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon to Reblatha, which is in the land of Emath: and he gave judgment upon him.

⁶ And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Sedecias, in Reblatha, before his eyes: and the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Juda.

⁷ He also put out the eyes of Sedecias: and bound him with fetters, to be carried to Babylon.

⁸ And the Chaldeans burnt the king's house, and the houses of the people with fire, and they threw down the wall of Jerusalem.

⁹ And Nabuzardan the general of the army carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and the fugitives that had gone over to him, and the rest of the people that remained.

¹⁰ But Nabuzardan the general left some of the poor people that had nothing at all, in the land of Juda, and he gave them vineyards, and cisterns at that time.

¹¹ Now Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had given charge to Nabuzardan the general concerning Jeremias, saying:

¹² Take him, and set thy eyes upon him, and do him no harm: but as he hath a mind, so do with him.

¹³ Therefore Nabuzardan the general sent, and Nabusezban, and Rabsares, and Neregel, and Sereser, and Rebmag, and all the nobles of the king of Babylon,

¹⁴ Sent, and took Jeremias out of the court of the prison, and committed him to Codolias the son of Ahicam the son of Saphan, that he might go home, and dwell among the people.

¹⁵ But the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, when he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying: Go, and tell Abdemelech the Ethiopian, saying:

¹⁶ Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Behold I will bring my words upon this city unto evil, and not unto good: and they shall be accomplished in thy sight in that day.

¹⁷ And I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord: and thou shalt not be given into the hands of the men whom thou fearest:

¹⁸ But delivering, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword : but thy life shall be saved for thee, because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord.