Before the Church · c. 589–587 BC
The Lachish Letters
Hoshaiah and the garrison of Lachish
What it is
Ostraca found in the burnt gate-chamber of a fortress destroyed by the Babylonians. An officer writes that they are watching for the signal fires of Lachish, because they can no longer see the ones from Azekah — and complains of a prophet whose words weaken the hands of the people.
Why it lasted
Written days or weeks before the fall, and Jeremiah 34:7 names Lachish and Azekah as the last two fortified cities holding out. The charge against the prophet is the exact charge brought against Jeremiah in chapter 38.
Scripture it works from
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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