Jeremiah 43

¹ When Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all the words of the LORD their God, with which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words,

² then Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely. The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You shall not go into Egypt to live there;’

³ but Baruch the son of Neriah has turned you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon.”

⁴ So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, didn’t obey the LORD’s voice, 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, who had returned from all the nations where they had been driven, to live in the land of Judah—

⁶ the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, and every person who Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan; and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.

⁷ They came into the land of Egypt, for they didn’t obey the LORD’s voice; and they came to Tahpanhes.

⁸ Then the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,

⁹ “Take great stones in your hand and hide them in mortar in the brick work which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah.

¹⁰ Tell them, the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne on these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his royal pavilion over them.

¹¹ He will come, and will strike the land of Egypt; such as are for death will be put to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword.

¹² I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt. He will burn them, and carry them away captive. He will array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment; and he will go out from there in peace.

¹³ He will also break the pillars of Beth Shemesh that is in the land of Egypt; and he will burn the houses of the gods of Egypt with fire.’”

Around Jeremiah 43

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Jeremiah as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

Before Jeremiah can speak, God has already spoken of him: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” That is how the book tells his calling, and the calling is heavy. He prophesied in Judah’s last decades, up to and beyond the destruction of Jerusalem. He calls the people to turn back to God, and he warns that the temple will not protect them. Kings, priests and other prophets oppose him. The book lets us hear his own anguished prayers, so that we see not only the message but the man who had to carry it.

In the middle of the warnings stands a promise. God says he will make “a new covenant”, and of his law he says, “I will write it in their heart” (31:31 to 34).

Background

Jeremiah’s ministry ran from about 627 to after 586 before Christ. His scribe Baruch wrote down his words. The book is not in time order, so a reader should expect to move back and forth across those years. The ancient Greek version is shorter than the Hebrew and arranged differently, and it shows that the book itself was handed down with care.

How Christians read it

The promise of a new covenant is taken up at the Last Supper and quoted in full in Hebrews 8. Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible. In its setting it is addressed to a whole people in exile and comes with the news that they will stay there for seventy years, which guards against reading it as a promise of quick relief.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 20 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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