Those were indeed days of pain and sorrow for Jeremiah and Baruch. They were not troubled so much by Jehoiakim's designs upon their lives--for Ebed-melech kept them well informed on the progress of the search--as they were by the preparations for rebellion. They knew that this was the beginning of the end. At one time the faithful, old Ethiopian warned them that the search party was near at hand. They were forced to hide in a cave for two days. It was then that Jeremiah cried: "Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth." This danger past, Jeremiah and Baruch continued their laborious task of finishing the new scroll of prophecies. Then came Spring, and with it Jehoiakim's rebellion. Nebuchadrezzar had not yet fully established himself on his throne in Babylon. He was too busy to deal with the rebellious Judean, himself. So he ordered a guerrilla warfare to be carried on by detached troops in all parts of Judah. It was only a question of time, however, when Nebuchadrezzar would invade Judah with his entire army and crush Jehoiakim like a snail under foot. No wonder that Jeremiah asked: "Who will have pity on thee, O Jerusalem? Or who will bemoan thee? Or who will turn aside to ask for thy welfare!" His grief was not alone for the great and glorious city and for its people, but for himself as well, that he should have to witness what he knew was inevitable: "Oh, that I could comfort myself against sorrow! My heart is faint within me. The harvest is past, the summer is ended and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt. I mourn; dismay hath taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why, then, is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? "Oh, that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people. Oh, that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; That I might leave my people and go from them." This despondency and hopelessness did not last long, however. As Nebuchadrezzar's guerrillas continued their cruel and merciless warfare, destroying crops and whole villages, Jeremiah determined that he must once more return to Jerusalem. He was ready and willing to pay for his efforts in behalf of his country with his life, if need be. A comforting and encouraging message came to him from God, at this time: "I will make thee unto this people a fortified, brazen wall; and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee, for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee. "And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible."