18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door :

19 And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and three-score men of the people of the land that were found in the city.

20 And Nebuzar-adan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. And the king of Babylon smote them and slew them at Riblah, in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of the land.

20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away into Babylon: where they were servants to him and his sons, until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: to fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

LESSON CXIV. JEREMIAH, CHAP. Xxxix.

XL. XLI. XLII.

11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard, saying, Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.

13 So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, Rab-saris, and Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, and all the king of Babylon's princes;

14 Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, where he had been shut up by the

prince of Israel, and committed him unto Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home so he dwelt among the people.

2 And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, the Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place. Now the Lord hath brought it, and done according as he hath said; because ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.

4 And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will look well unto thee; but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.

5 Now, while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.

5 Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land. But it came to pass, that Ishmael and ten other persons, who were of kin to the king, treacherously killed Gedaliah, and others with him.

16 Then took Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had slain Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam; even mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon.

17 And they departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Beth-lehem, to go to enter into Egypt, because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had slain Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.

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

3 That the Lord thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.

4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you: behold, I will pray unto the Lord your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the Lord shall answer you, I will declare it unto 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.

LESSON CXV. JEREMIAH, CHAP. XLII. XLIII.

7 AND it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah. Then called

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

9 And said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him; If ye will abide in this land, then I will build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up.

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 shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return unto your own land.

13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the Lord your God, saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egyyt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of 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, whereof 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 mine 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 ув 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. For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us unto the Lord our God; and according unto all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto 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 the which he hath sent me unto you. 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.

1 And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God hath sent him to them, even all these words,

2 Then spake Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the Lord our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there :

3 But Baruch, the son of Neriah, setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.

4 So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the Lord, to dwell in the land of Judah.

5 But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah;

6 Even men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah,