Jeremiah 26

26^*aIn the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the Lord, saying, ²Thus saith the Lord; ^bStand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord’s house, ^call the words that I command thee to speak unto them; ^ddiminish not a word: ^3eIf so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that ^fI may repent me ^eof the evil, which I purpose to do unto them ^gbecause of the evil of their doings. ⁴And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; ^hIf ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, ⁵ⁱTo hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, ⁱwhom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, ⁱbut ye have not hearkened; ⁶Then will I make this house ^klike Shiloh, and will make this city ^la curse ^llto all the nations of the earth.

⁷So ^mthe priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. ⁸Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that ^mthe priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die. ⁹Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, This house shall be ^klike Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate ⁿwithout an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. ¹⁰When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s house unto the house of the Lord, and sat down ^||in the entry of ^othe new gate of the Lord’s house. ¹¹Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, ^†This man is worthy to die; ^pfor he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears. ¹²Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. ¹³Therefore now ^qamend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and ^fthe Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. ¹⁴As for me, behold, ^rI am in your hand: ^rdo with me ^†as seemeth good and meet unto you. ¹⁵But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.

¹⁶Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God. ^17sThen rose up certain of ^tthe elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying, ^18u*Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts;

^vZion shall be plowed like a field,

And Jerusalem shall become heaps,

And the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

¹⁹Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? ^wdid he not fear the Lord, and besought ^†the Lord, and ^fwxthe Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? ^yThus might we procure great evil against our souls. ²⁰And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the Lord, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of ^zKirjath-jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah: ²¹And ^awhen Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt; ²²And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, ^*bElnathan the son of ^cAchbor, and certain men with him into Egypt. ²³And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; ^dwho slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into ^ethe graves of the ^†common people. ²⁴Nevertheless the hand of ^fAhikam the son of ^gShaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.