¹⁴ Then Jeremiah said, That is not true; I am not going to the Chaldaeans. But he would not give ear to him: so Irijah made him prisoner and took him to the rulers.

¹¹ Happy are you when men give you a bad name, and are cruel to you, and say all evil things against you falsely, because of me.

¹² Be glad and full of joy; for great is your reward in heaven: for so were the prophets attacked who were before you.

⁴ Now see, this day I am freeing you from the chains which are on your hands. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will keep an eye on you; but if it does not seem good to you to come with me to Babylon, then do not come: see, all the land is before you; if it seems good and right to you to go on living in the land,

⁵ Then go back to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made ruler over the towns of Judah, and make your living-place with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go. So the captain of the armed men gave him food and some money and let him go.

⁶ So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, in Mizpah, and was living with him among the people who were still in the land.

¹ <To the chief music-maker. Maschil. Of David. When Doeg the Edomite came to Saul saying, David has come to the house of Ahimelech.> Why do you take pride in wrongdoing, lifting yourself up against the upright man all the day?

² Purposing destruction, using deceit; your tongue is like a sharp blade.

¹² Do not give me into their hands, because false witnesses have come out against me, and men breathing destruction.

¹⁴ If men say evil things of you because of the name of Christ, happy are you; for the Spirit of glory and of God is resting on you.

¹⁵ Let no one among you undergo punishment as a taker of life, or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, or as one who is over-interested in other men's business;

¹⁶ But if he undergoes punishment as a Christian, that is no shame to him; let him give glory to God in this name.

¹⁶ Being conscious that you have done no wrong; so that those who say evil things about your good way of life as Christians may be put to shame.

²⁶ Unhappy are you when all men give you their approval: for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

²² Happy are you, when men have hate for you, and put you away from among them and say angry words to you, turning away in disgust at your name, because of the Son of man.

²³ Be glad in that day, and be lifted up for joy, for your reward in heaven will be great: for their fathers did these same things to the prophets.

¹¹ False witnesses got up: they put questions to me about crimes of which I had no knowledge.

⁸ Then I sent to him, saying, No such things as you say are being done, they are only a fiction you have made up yourself.