Jeremiah 24–29

Chapter 24

¹Jehovah shewed me, and behold, two baskets of figs, set before the temple of Jehovah, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive from Jerusalem, Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, and the craftsmen and smiths, and had brought them to Babylon. ²One basket had very good figs, like the figs first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten for badness. ³And Jehovah said unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs: the good figs very good; and the bad very bad, which cannot be eaten for badness. ⁴And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ⁵Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard for good them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans; ⁶and I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. ⁷And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. ⁸And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten for badness, surely, thus saith Jehovah: So will I make Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt. ⁹And I will give them over to be driven hither and thither unto all the kingdoms of the earth for evil, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them; ¹⁰and I will send among them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

Chapter 25

¹The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah (that is, the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon), ²which Jeremiah the prophet spoke unto all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: ³From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, the king of Judah, even unto this day, these three and twenty years, the word of Jehovah hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. ⁴And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear, ⁵when they said, Turn again now every one from his evil way, and from the wickedness of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah hath given unto you and to your fathers from of old even for ever. ⁶And go not after other gods, to serve them and to worship them; and provoke me not to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. ⁷But ye have not hearkened unto me, saith Jehovah; that ye might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, to your own hurt.

⁸Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Because ye have not listened to my words, ⁹behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith Jehovah, and I will send to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual wastes. ¹⁰And I will cause to perish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. ¹¹And this whole land shall become a waste, an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ¹²And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will visit on the king of Babylon and on that nation, saith Jehovah, their iniquity, and on the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it perpetual desolations. ¹³And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. ¹⁴For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.

¹⁵For thus hath Jehovah the God of Israel said unto me: Take the cup of the wine of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it. ¹⁶And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. ¹⁷And I took the cup at Jehovah’s hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom Jehovah had sent me: ¹⁸Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a waste, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; ¹⁹Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; ²⁰and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gazah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; ²¹Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon; ²²and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles that are beyond the sea; ²³Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that have the corners of their beard cut off; ²⁴and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert; ²⁵and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes; ²⁶and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. ²⁷And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, and be drunken, and vomit, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword that I will send among you. ²⁸And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from thy hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Ye shall certainly drink. ²⁹For behold, I begin to bring evil on the city that is called by my name, and should ye be altogether unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished; for I call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith Jehovah of hosts.

³⁰And thou, prophesy unto them all these words, and say unto them, Jehovah will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he will mightily roar upon his dwelling-place, he will give a shout, as they that tread the vintage, against all the inhabitants of the earth. ³¹The noise shall come to the end of the earth: for Jehovah hath a controversy with the nations, he entereth into judgment with all flesh; as for the wicked, he will give them up to the sword, saith Jehovah. ³²Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great storm shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth. ³³And the slain of Jehovah shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the face of the ground. ³⁴Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the dust, noble ones of the flock: for the days of your slaughter are accomplished, and I will disperse you; and ye shall fall like a precious vessel. ³⁵And refuge shall perish from the shepherds, and escape from the noble ones of the flock. ³⁶There shall be a voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the noble ones of the flock: for Jehovah layeth waste their pasture; ³⁷and the peaceable enclosures shall be desolated, because of the fierce anger of Jehovah. ³⁸He hath forsaken his covert as a young lion; for their land is a desolation because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

Chapter 26

¹In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, came this word from Jehovah, saying, ²Thus saith Jehovah: Stand in the court of Jehovah’s house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in Jehovah’s house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them: diminish not a word. ³Peradventure they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them because of the wickedness of their doings. ⁴And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah: If ye will not hearken unto me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, ⁵to hearken unto the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent unto you, even rising early and sending them, but ye have not hearkened, ⁶—then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.

⁷And the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Jehovah. ⁸And it came to pass when Jeremiah had ended speaking all that Jehovah had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, Thou shalt certainly die. ⁹Why hast thou prophesied in the name of Jehovah, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah. ¹⁰And the princes of Judah heard these things; and they went up from the king’s house unto the house of Jehovah, and sat in the entry of the new gate of Jehovah. ¹¹And the priests and the prophets spoke unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die, for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears. ¹²And Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and to all the people, saying, Jehovah sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. ¹³And now, amend your ways and your doings, and hearken to the voice…