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God promises to punish Molech, the god of the Ammonites, and those who worship it, but the Ammonites will be restored afterward, as they are relatives of the Israelites, descended from Lot. God will also punish the Edomites, who had a marauding culture, but their children and widows He will keep alive. Other nations also have judgments against them.

Babylon was used by God to exact judgment on Israel, but now that the judgment has been exacted, and the nations became drunk on the things that came from Babylon (which would be repeated in Revelation, chapters 17 and 18), and since Babylon does not have any good left in it, God will destroy it.

Jeremiah tells Seraiah to deliver a message that he had written down some time before, a message that contains all the things that would befall Babylon, and then to throw it into the Euphrates, to sink as Babylon would sink.

The Book of Jeremiah reminds us that we must be careful to listen to what God is saying, and to be prepared to act on it.

After God promises to punish Egypt, he promises to punish the Philistines, whose people were very advanced, possessing the ability to forge iron. God will punish them for the taking of the Ark of the Covenant, many, many years ago. Moab will also be punished for pride. In all of these cases, the true God is attacking the false gods. It is worthy of note that the language here echoes Numbers 21:27ff.

The last few chapters of Jeremiah are rich in wordplay and in detail, and in some ways are like an entirely different book. There are many pronouncements made against Egypt, which has often been used to mean the world at large, but pride of worldly power is singled out for particular condemnation.

The word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah, and he tells those who escaped to Egypt that Nebuchadnezzar will conquer them and they will not come back. Those who have worshiped false gods, and who have taken wives who brought in worship of false gods, like the goddess Astarte, known as the queen of Heaven, have left God.  King Hophra of Egypt was already having trouble before Nebuchadnezzar came against him, and he would indeed fall a little while later.

Some use criticism of this false god to impugn veneration of Mary, the mother of God. Certainly, we must make absolutely sure that the honor, which is never to be worship, given to the saints is infinitely lower than the proper worship of God. Worship of any creature would be a sin. We do, however, have the ability to ask any living person to pray for us, and similarly, we may ask those who are in Heaven to do the same for us.

Nothing more is said of Jeremiah at this point, but there is more to come in the book, including the letter of Jeremiah to Baruch.

God saw Judah falling away and decided to give Judah a test, which Judah failed, and thus He chastised them. How do you respond to the challenges that God gives to you?

Jeremiah is cared for in Babylon, and Gedaliah is left as governor of Judah, since he did not go with the rebellion, and since he was not taken to Babylon. A marauder named Ishmael plots to kill Gedaliah, and since Gedaliah won’t take efforts to stop him, Ishmael does kill him and all those who were with him. A while later, eighty other pilgrims come to give offerings in the temple, and Ishmael kills all of them, except for some who gave up their hiding places. Ishmael takes captives and flees toward the Ammonites, but Johanan recovers all the captives.

Johanan then wants to go into Egypt and seeks Jeremiah’s approval, and Jeremiah prays to God for guidance. God tells him not to go, but Johanan seems to have already made up his mind and goes into Egypt anyway.

Some in the military hear the words of Jeremiah, and they plot to silence Jeremiah. King Zedekiah, like Pontius Pilate later, lets them do what they will. They put Jeremiah into a cistern and left him to die until Ebed-melech, a eunuch, comes to the defense of Jeremiah. Jeremiah is rescued, and Zedekiah asks Jeremiah to tell him the truth, and Jeremiah tells him to surrender. Zedekiah is afraid to do that.

There is a breach in the city walls, and the city falls. The king and his men sneak out, but they are caught. Jerusalem is destroyed. All the people are carried off to Babylon except the poorest of the poor. Ebed-melech will be saved from his enemies.

The Babylonians approach Israel, and the people prepare for the attack. Extrabiblical accounts of this time exist in the Lachish Letters.

At this time, some people make a sacred covenant to free their slaves, possibly as a cost-cutting measure, but when the impending army seems to be less of a threat, these people break their sacred covenant and take back their slaves.

Jeremiah wrote down all the words that God had told him, and ordered Baruch to read them to those assembled in the temple. Jehoiakim burns the scroll containing those words. After this, the king seeks out Jeremiah and asks him what will happen and what ca be done at this point. Jeremiah tells him that there is nothing that can be done, and Babylon will capture Judah.