¹And the day came in which the LORD brought the people forth out of Babylon.

²And the LORD said unto Jeremiah: Arise, thou and the people, and come unto the Jordan, and say unto the people: Let every one that desireth the Lord forsake the works of Babylon.

³As for the men who took wives of them, and the women who took husbands of them, those that hearken unto thee shall cross over, and thou shalt lead them into Jerusalem; but those that hearken not unto thee, lead them not thither.

⁴And Jeremiah spake these words unto the people, and they arose and came unto the Jordan to cross over.

⁵And as he declared unto them the words which the LORD had spoken unto him, half of those who had taken wives of them would not hearken unto Jeremiah, but said unto him: We will never forsake our wives; nay, but we will bring them back with us into our city.

⁶So they crossed over the Jordan and came unto Jerusalem.

⁷And Jeremiah and Baruch and Abimelech stood up and said: No man that is joined with the Babylonians shall enter this city!

⁸And they said one to another: Let us arise and return unto Babylon, unto our place. And they departed.

⁹But as they drew nigh unto Babylon, the Babylonians came forth to meet them, saying: Ye shall not enter our city; for ye hated us and departed from us in secret; wherefore ye cannot come in unto us.

¹⁰For we have taken a solemn oath together in the name of our god, to receive neither you nor your children, since ye departed from us in secret.

¹¹And when they heard this, they turned back and came unto a desert place, some distance from Jerusalem, and built for themselves a city, and called the name thereof Samaria.

¹²And Jeremiah sent unto them, saying: Repent, for the angel of righteousness cometh, and shall lead you unto your exalted place.

¹³And when the appointed day was come,

¹⁴God said unto Jeremiah: Take the whole night and go forth from Babylon and come unto the Jordan.

¹⁵And there thou shalt separate the rulers of the Babylonians who took wives of thy nation, and the women of the Babylonians who were joined unto thy people. And those who hear thee not, the Jordan shall separate; they shall not cross over with you.

¹⁶And Jeremiah did even as God commanded him.

¹⁷And in separating them at the Jordan, the greater part of those who had joined themselves unto the Babylonians would not hearken unto Jeremiah, but said: It is better for us to return unto Babylon than to forsake our wives.

¹⁸And they departed unto Babylon.

¹⁹But they were not received of the Babylonians, who said: Because ye departed from us and went away in secret,

²⁰We have sworn an oath among ourselves, to receive neither you nor your children.

²¹But these, who were received neither of Jeremiah nor of the Babylonians, departed unto a desert place some distance from Jerusalem, and built for themselves a city which is called Samaria, for so they named it.