He prowled with the lions. He became very strong. He learned to tear apart what he caught. And he became a man- eater.

它在众狮子中走来走去，成了少壮狮子，学会抓食而吃人。

它在众狮子中徜徉，长大成为少壮狮子，学会抓食，它就吃人。

它在众狮子中徜徉，长大成为少壮狮子，学会抓食，它就吃人。

它出入狮群，学会了捕食和吃人。

它在狮子群中行走；它已成了一只少壮的狮子，它学会了撕碎猎物，把人吃掉。

牠在眾獅子中走來走去，成了少壯獅子，學會抓食而吃人。

牠在眾獅子中徜徉，長大成為少壯獅子，學會抓食，牠就吃人。

牠在眾獅子中徜徉，長大成為少壯獅子，學會抓食，牠就吃人。

牠出入獅群，學會了捕食和吃人。

牠在獅子群中行走；牠已成了一隻少壯的獅子，牠學會了撕碎獵物，把人吃掉。

這獅在眾獅子中走來走去；成了少壯獅子，學會了抓撕所抓到之物而喫人。

往來於眾獅間、為獅之雄、學攫物而噬人、

既為壯獅、往來於眾獅間、學攫物噬人、害其嫠婦、害其嫠婦或作拆其宮室

He prowled among the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man- eater.

He prowled among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men,

He prowled among the other lions and stood out among them in his strength. He learned to hunt and devour prey, and he, too, became a man eater.

He prowled among the lions, and he became a young lion. After he learned to tear prey, he devoured people.

And he walked about among the lions, He became a young lion; He learned to tear his prey; He devoured people.

He roved among the lions, And became a young lion; He learned to catch prey; He devoured men.

And he went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

He prowled among the lions, and he became a young lion. After he learned to tear prey, he devoured people.

And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey,[ and] devoured men.

He walked about among the lions; he became a young lion. He learned to tear prey; he devoured people.

He went up and down among the lions. He became a young lion. He learned to catch the prey. He devoured men.

Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord his God.

Jehoiachin did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did just as his father Jehoiakim had done.

A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It came in the fourth year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah. He was the son of Josiah. The message said,“ Get a scroll. Write on it all the words I have spoken to you. Write down what I have said about Israel, Judah and all the other nations. Write what I have said to you from the time of King Josiah until now.The people of Judah will hear about all the trouble I plan to bring on them. Maybe then each of them will turn from their evil ways. If they do, I will forgive their sins and the evil things they have done.”So Jeremiah sent for Baruch, the son of Neriah. Jeremiah told him to write down all the words the Lord had spoken to him. And Baruch wrote them on the scroll.Then Jeremiah said to him,“ I’m not allowed to go to the Lord’ s temple.So you go there. Go on a day when the people are fasting. Read to them from the scroll. Read the words of the Lord you wrote down as I gave them to you. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns.They will hear what the Lord will do to them when his burning anger blazes out against them. Then perhaps they will pray to him. And maybe each of them will turn from their evil ways.”Baruch, the son of Neriah, did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do. He went to the Lord’ s temple. There he read the words of the Lord from the scroll.It was in the fifth year that Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, was king of Judah. It was the ninth month of that year. A time of fasting at the Lord’ s temple had been ordered. All the people in Jerusalem were told to take part in it. So were those who had come in from the towns of Judah.Baruch read to all the people who were at the Lord’ s temple. He read Jeremiah’s words from the scroll. He was in the room of Gemariah the secretary. It was located in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the temple. Gemariah was the son of Shaphan.Micaiah was the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan. Micaiah heard Baruch reading all the Lord’ s words that were written on the scroll.Then he went down to the secretary’s room in the royal palace. All the officials were sitting there. They included the secretary Elishama and Delaiah, the son of Shemaiah. Elnathan, the son of Akbor, was also there. So was Gemariah, the son of Shaphan. Zedekiah, the son of Hananiah, was there too. And so were all the other officials.Micaiah told all of them what he had heard. He told them everything Baruch had read to the people from the scroll.All the officials sent Jehudi to speak to Baruch, the son of Neriah. Jehudi was the son of Nethaniah. Nethaniah was the son of Shelemiah. Shelemiah was the son of Cushi. Jehudi said to Baruch,“ Come. Bring the scroll you have read to the people.” So Baruch went to them. He carried the scroll with him.The officials said to him,“ Please sit down. Read the scroll to us.” So Baruch read it to them.They heard all its words. Then they looked at one another in fear. They said to Baruch,“ We must report all these words to the king.”They said to Baruch,“ Tell us. How did you happen to write all these things? Did Jeremiah tell you to do this?”“ Yes,” Baruch replied.“ He told me to write down all these words. So I wrote them in ink on the scroll.”Then the officials spoke to Baruch. They said,“ You and Jeremiah must go and hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.”The officials put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary. Then they went to the king in the courtyard. They reported everything to him.The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary. Jehudi read it to the king. All the officials were standing beside the king. So they heard it too.It was the ninth month. The king was sitting in his winter apartment. A fire was burning in the fire pot in front of him.Jehudi read three or four sections from the scroll. Then the king cut them off with a secretary’s knife. He threw them into the fire pot. He did that until the entire scroll was burned up in the fire.The king and some of his attendants heard all these words. But they weren’t afraid. They didn’t tear their clothes.Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll. But he wouldn’t listen to them.Instead, the king commanded three men to arrest Baruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet. But the Lord had hidden them. The three men were Jerahmeel, Seraiah and Shelemiah. Jerahmeel was a member of the royal court. Seraiah was the son of Azriel. And Shelemiah was the son of Abdeel.A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It came after the king burned the scroll. On the scroll were the words Baruch had written down. Jeremiah had told him to write them. The message said,“ Get another scroll. Write on it all the words that were on the first one. King Jehoiakim burned that one up.Also tell King Jehoiakim,‘ The Lord says,“ You burned that scroll. You said to Baruch,‘ Why did you write that the king of Babylon would certainly come? Why did you write that he would destroy this land? And why did you write that he would remove from it people and animals alike?’ ”So now the Lord has something to say about Jehoiakim, the king of Judah. He says,“ No one from Jehoiakim’s family line will sit on David’s throne. Jehoiakim’s body will be thrown out. It will lie outside in the heat by day and in the frost at night.I will punish him and his children and his attendants. I will punish them for their sinful ways. I will bring on them all the trouble I said I would. And I will bring it on the people of Jerusalem and Judah. They have not listened to me.” ’ ”So Jeremiah got another scroll. He gave it to Baruch the secretary. He was the son of Neriah. Jeremiah told Baruch what to write on it. Baruch wrote down all the words that were on the scroll King Jehoiakim had burned up in the fire. And many more words were written on it. They were similar to those that had already been written.

Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

During Jehoiakim’s rule, Nebuchadnezzar marched into the land and attacked it. He was king of Babylon. He became Jehoiakim’s master for three years. But then Jehoiakim decided he didn’t want to remain under Nebuchadnezzar’s control.The Lord sent robbers against Jehoiakim from Babylon, Aram, Moab and Ammon. He sent them to destroy Judah. That’s what the Lord had said would happen. He had spoken that message through his servants the prophets.These things happened to Judah in keeping with what the Lord had commanded. He brought enemies against his people in order to remove them from his land. He removed them because of all the sins Manasseh had committed.Manasseh had spilled the blood of many people who weren’t guilty of doing anything wrong. In fact, he spilled so much of their blood that he filled Jerusalem with it. So the Lord refused to forgive him.The other events of the rule of Jehoiakim are written down. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Judah.Jehoiakim joined the members of his family who had already died. Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin became the next king after him.The king of Egypt didn’t march out from his own country again. That’s because the king of Babylon had taken so much of his territory. It reached from the Wadi of Egypt all the way to the Euphrates River.

A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It was shortly after Jehoiakim became king of Judah. He was the son of Josiah.The Lord said to Jeremiah,“ Stand in the courtyard of my house. Speak to the people of the towns in Judah. Speak to all those who come to worship in my house. Tell them everything I command you. Do not leave out a single word.Perhaps they will listen. Maybe they will turn from their evil ways. Then I will not do what I said I would. I will not bring trouble on them. I had planned to punish them because of the evil things they had done.Tell them,‘ The Lord says,“ Listen to me. Obey my law that I gave you.And listen to the words my servants the prophets are speaking. I have sent them to you again and again. But you have not listened to them.So I will make this house like Shiloh. All the nations on earth will use the name of this city in a curse.” ’ ”Jeremiah spoke these words in the Lord’ s house. The priests, the prophets and all the people heard him.Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the Lord had commanded him to say. But as soon as he did, the priests, the prophets and all the people grabbed him. They said,“ You must die!Why do you prophesy these things in the Lord’ s name? Why do you say that this house will become like Shiloh? Why do you say that this city will be empty and deserted?” And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the Lord’ s house.The officials of Judah heard what had happened. So they went up from the royal palace to the Lord’ s house. There they took their places at the entrance of the New Gate.Then the priests and prophets spoke to the officials and all the people. They said,“ This man should be sentenced to death. He has prophesied against this city. You have heard it with your own ears!”Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and people. He said,“ The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city. He told me to say everything you have heard.So change the way you live and act. Obey the Lord your God. Then he won’t do what he said he would. He won’t bring on you the trouble he said he would bring.As for me, I’m in your hands. Do to me what you think is good and right.But you can be sure of one thing. If you put me to death, you will be held responsible for spilling my blood. And I haven’t even done anything wrong. You will bring guilt on yourselves and this city and those who live in it. The Lord has sent me to you. He wanted me to say all these things so you could hear them. And that’s the truth.”Then the officials and all the people spoke to the priests and prophets. They said,“ This man shouldn’t be sentenced to death! He has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”Some of the elders of the land stepped forward. They spoke to the whole community gathered there. They said,“ Micah from Moresheth prophesied. It was during the time Hezekiah was king over Judah. Micah spoke to all the people of Judah. He told them,‘ The Lord who rules over all says,“‘ “Zion will be plowed up like a field. Jerusalem will be turned into a pile of trash. The temple hill will be covered with bushes and weeds.” ’( Micah 3:12)Did King Hezekiah or anyone else in Judah put Micah to death? Hezekiah had respect for the Lord and tried to please him. And the Lord didn’t judge Jerusalem as he said he would. He didn’t bring on it the trouble he said he would bring. But we are about to bring horrible trouble on ourselves!”Uriah was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord. He was from Kiriath Jearim. He was the son of Shemaiah. Uriah prophesied against this city and this land. He said the same things Jeremiah did.King Jehoiakim and all his officers and officials heard Uriah’s words. So the king decided to put him to death. But Uriah heard about it. He was afraid. And he ran away to Egypt.So King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan to Egypt. He also sent some other men along with him. Elnathan was the son of Akbor.Those men brought Uriah out of Egypt. They took him to King Jehoiakim. Then the king had Uriah struck down with a sword. He had Uriah’s body thrown into one of the graves of the ordinary people.In spite of that, Ahikam stood up for Jeremiah. Ahikam was the son of Shaphan. Because of Ahikam, Jeremiah wasn’t handed over to the people to be put to death.

The Lord says,“ How terrible it will be for King Jehoiakim! He builds his palace by mistreating his people. He builds its upstairs rooms with money gained by sinning. He makes his own people work for nothing. He does not pay them for what they do.He says,‘ I will build myself a great palace. It will have large rooms upstairs.’ So he makes big windows in it. He covers its walls with cedar boards. He decorates it with red paint.“ Jehoiakim, does having more and more cedar boards make you a king? Your father Josiah had enough to eat and drink. He did what was right and fair. So everything went well with him.He stood up for those who were poor or needy. So everything went well with him. That is what it means to know me,” announces the Lord.“ Jehoiakim, the only thing on your mind is to get rich by cheating others. You would even kill people who are not guilty of doing anything wrong. You would mistreat them. You would take everything they own.”