the
nations whither they had been driven to sojourn in {326} the land of
Judah; the men, and the women, and the children, and the king's
daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard
had left with Gedaliah the royal governor, and Jeremiah the prophet,
and Baruch the son of Neriah; and they came into the land of Egypt;
for they obeyed not the voice of the Lord: and they came even to
Tahpanhes.

Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
"Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in mortar in the
brickwork, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in
the sight of the men of Judah; and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord
of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will send and take
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his
throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his
royal pavilion over them. And he shall come, and shall smite the land
of Egypt; such as are for death shall be given to death, and such as
are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the
sword.

"'And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he
shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array
himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment;
and he shall go forth from thence in peace. He shall also break the
pillars of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses
of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire.'"

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the {327} Jews which
dwelt in the land of Egypt, which dwelt at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes,
and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying, "Thus saith the
Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Ye have seen all the evil that I
have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and,
behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein;
because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to
anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods,
whom they knew not, neither they, nor ye, nor your fathers.'

"Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early
and sending them, saying, 'Oh, do not this abominable thing that I
hate.' But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from
their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods. Wherefore my
fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of
Judah and in th