Jeremiah 27–29

The Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar

27In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah¹ the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. ²Thus the Lord said to me: ^c“Make yourself straps and ^dyoke-bars, and put them on your neck. ³Send word² to the king of ^eEdom, the king of ^eMoab, the king of the sons of ^eAmmon, the king of ^eTyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. ⁴Give them this charge for their masters: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: ⁵“It is I who ^fby my great power and my outstretched arm ^ghave made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, ^hand I give it to whomever it seems right to me. ⁶ⁱNow I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, ^jmy servant, ^kand I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. ^7lAll the nations shall serve him and ^mhis son and ⁿhis grandson, ^ountil the time of his own land comes. ^pThen many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.

⁸“ ‘ “But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^qand put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation ^rwith the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the Lord, until I have consumed it by his hand. ⁹So ^sdo not listen to your ^tprophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your ^ufortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ ^10vFor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. ^11wBut any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the Lord.” ’ ”

¹²To ^xZedekiah king of Judah I spoke in like manner: ^w“Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and ^yserve him and his people and live. ^13zWhy will you and your people die ^aby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, ^bas the Lord has spoken concerning any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? ^14cDo not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ ^vfor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. ¹⁵I have not sent them, declares the Lord, but ^vthey are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.”

¹⁶Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ^cDo not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ^d‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,’ ^vfor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. ^17cDo not listen to them; ^wserve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city ^ebecome a desolation? ¹⁸If they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, then ^flet them intercede with the Lord of hosts, ^gthat the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. ^19hFor thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, ²⁰which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, ⁱwhen he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— ²¹thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ^hconcerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: ^22jThey shall be carried to Babylon ^kand remain there ^luntil the day when I visit them, declares the Lord. ^mThen I will bring them back ^jand restore them to this place.”

Hananiah the False Prophet

28In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of ⁿZedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of ^oAzzur, the prophet from ^pGibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, ²“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^qI have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. ^3rWithin ^stwo years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. ⁴I will also bring back to this place ^tJeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the Lord, ^qfor I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”

⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord, ⁶and the prophet Jeremiah said, ^u“Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. ⁷Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. ^8vThe prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. ^9wAs for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”

¹⁰Then the prophet Hananiah took the ^xyoke-bars from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke them. ¹¹And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, ^y“Thus says the Lord: ^zEven so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of ^aall the nations within two years.” But Jeremiah the prophet went his way.

¹²Sometime after the prophet ^bHananiah had broken the yoke-bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³“Go, tell Hananiah, ‘Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron. ¹⁴For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations ^can iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^dand they shall serve him, ^efor I have given to him even the beasts of the field.’ ” ¹⁵And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, ^fthe Lord has not sent you, ^gand you have made this people trust in a lie. ¹⁶Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, ^hbecause you have uttered rebellion against the Lord.’ ”

¹⁷In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles

29These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to ⁱthe surviving elders of the exiles, and to ^jthe priests, ^jthe prophets, and ^jall the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²This was after ^kKing Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. ³The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of ^lShaphan and Gemariah the son of ^mHilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: ⁴“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵ⁿBuild houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. ⁶Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and ^opray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. ⁸For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^pDo not let your prophets and ^qyour diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,^{1 9}for ^rit is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; ^sI did not send them, declares the Lord.

¹⁰“For thus says the Lord: ^tWhen seventy years are completed for Babylon, ^uI will visit you, ^vand I will fulfill to you my promise ^vand bring you back to this place. ^11wFor I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare² and not for evil, ^xto give you a future and a hope. ^12yThen you will call upon me and come and pray to me, ^yand I will hear you. ^13zYou will seek me and find me, when you seek me ^awith all your heart. ¹⁴I will be found by you, declares the Lord, ^band I will restore your fortunes and ^cgather you from all the nations and all the places ^dwhere I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

¹⁵“Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ ¹⁶thus says the Lord concerning ^ethe king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: ¹⁷‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I am sending on them ^fsword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like ^gvile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. ¹⁸I will pursue them with ^fsword, famine, and pestilence, ^hand will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, ⁱto be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations ^dwhere I have driven them, ¹⁹because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, ^jthat I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.’ ²⁰Hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles ^kwhom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: ²¹‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, ^lwho are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand…