Jeremiah 26–52

CHAPTER 26

The Words of Yahweh Against Judah

¹In the beginning of the reign of ^aJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from Yahweh, saying,

²“Thus says Yahweh, ‘^aStand in the court of the house of Yahweh, and you shall speak to all the cities of Judah who have ^bcome to worship in the house of Yahweh ^call the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. ^dDo not take away a word!

³‘^aPerhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that ^bI may ¹relent of the evil which I am devising to ²bring against them because of the evil of their deeds.’

⁴“And you will say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “^aIf you will not listen to Me, to ^bwalk in My law which I have given before you,

⁵to listen to the words of ^aMy slaves the prophets, whom I have been sending to you, rising up early and sending, but you have not listened,

⁶then I will make this house like ^aShiloh, and this city I will make a ^bcurse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”

Plot to Murder Jeremiah

⁷The ^apriests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Yahweh.

⁸Now it happened that when Jeremiah finished speaking all that Yahweh had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “^aYou must surely die!

⁹“Why have you prophesied in the name of Yahweh saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh, and this city will be ^alaid waste, without inhabitant’?” And ^ball the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of Yahweh.

¹⁰When the ^aofficials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of Yahweh and sat in the ^bentrance of the New Gate of the house of Yahweh.

¹¹Then the priests and the prophets ^aspoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A ^bjudgment of death for this man! For he has prophesied ^cagainst this city as you have heard in your hearing.”

¹²Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, “^aYahweh sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.

¹³“So now, ^amake good your ways and your deeds and listen to the voice of Yahweh your God; and Yahweh will ¹relent of the evil demise which He has spoken against you.

¹⁴“But as for me, behold, ^aI am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your eyes.

¹⁵“Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring ^ainnocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on its inhabitants; for truly Yahweh has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

Jeremiah Spared from Death

¹⁶Then the officials and all the people ^asaid to the priests and to the prophets, “No ^bjudgment of death for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of Yahweh our God.”

¹⁷Then ^asome of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,

¹⁸“^1aMicah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus Yahweh of hosts has said,

“^bZion will be plowed as a field,

And Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

And the ^cmountain of the house will become ²the high places of a forest.” ’

¹⁹“Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not ^afear Yahweh and entreat the favor of Yahweh, and ^bYahweh ¹relented of the evil demise which He had spoken against them? But we are ^ccommitting a great evil against ourselves.”

²⁰Indeed, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of Yahweh, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from ^aKiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah.

²¹And King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and all the officials heard his words. So the ^aking sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard it, and he was afraid and ^bfled and went to Egypt.

²²Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: ^aElnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him went into Egypt.

²³And they brought Uriah out from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who ^astruck him down with a sword and cast his dead body into the ¹burial place of the ²common people.

²⁴But the hand of ^aAhikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was ^bnot given into the hands of the people to put him to death.

CHAPTER 27

The Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar

¹In the beginning of the reign of ^1aZedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying—

²thus says Yahweh to me—“Make for yourself ^abonds and the ^bbars of a yoke and put them on your neck,

³and you shall send ¹word to the king of ^aEdom, to the king of ^bMoab, to the king of the sons of ^cAmmon, to the king of ^dTyre, and to the king of ^eSidon by the hand of messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

⁴“And you shall command them to go to their masters, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, thus you shall say to your masters,

⁵“^aI have made the earth, the men, and the animals which are on the face of the earth ^bby My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will ^cgive it to the one who is right in My eyes.

⁶“So now, I ^ahave given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^bMy servant, and I have given him even the ^cwild beasts of the field to serve him.

⁷“^aAll the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson ^buntil the time of his own land comes; then ^cmany nations and great kings will ¹make him their servant.

⁸“And it will be, that the nation or the kingdom which ^awill not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the ^bsword, with famine, and with pestilence,” declares Yahweh, “until I have brought ¹it to an end by his hand.

⁹“But as for you, ^ado not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your ¹dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’

¹⁰“For they prophesy a ^alie to you in order to ^bremove you far from your land; and I will banish you, and you will perish.

¹¹“But the nation which will ^abring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will ^bleave it on its land,” declares Yahweh, “and they will serve it and inhabit it.” ’ ”

¹²I spoke words like all these to ^aZedekiah king of Judah, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live!

¹³“Why will you ^adie, you and your people, by the sword, famine, and pestilence, as Yahweh has spoken to that nation which will not serve the king of Babylon?

¹⁴“So ^ado not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a ^blie to you;

¹⁵for ^aI have not sent them,” declares Yahweh, “but they ^bprophesy a lie in My name, in order that I may ^cbanish you and that you may perish, ^dyou and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

¹⁶Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says Yahweh: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Behold, the ^avessels of the house of Yahweh will now shortly be returned from Babylon’; for they are prophesying a ^blie to you.

¹⁷“Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city ^abecome a waste place?

¹⁸“But ^aif they are prophets, and if the word of Yahweh is with them, let them now ^bintercede with Yahweh of hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of Yahweh, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon.

¹⁹“For thus says Yahweh of hosts concerning the ^apillars, concerning the sea, concerning the stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city,

²⁰which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he ^acarried away into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.

²¹“Indeed, thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Yahweh and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem,

²²‘They will be ^abrought to Babylon, and they will be there until the ^bday I ¹visit them,’ declares Yahweh. ‘Then I will ^cbring them up and return them to this place.’”

CHAPTER 28

Hananiah’s Rebellion Against Yahweh

¹Now it happened in the same year, ^ain the beginning of the reign of ^bZedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that ^cHananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was from ^dGibeon, spoke to me in the house of Yahweh in the sight of the priests and all the people, saying,

²“^aThus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

³‘Within two years I am going to return to this place ^aall the vessels of the house of Yahweh, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon.

⁴‘I am ^aalso going to return to this place ^bJeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the ^cexiles of Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares Yahweh, ‘for I will break the ^dyoke of the king of Babylon.’”

⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the sight of the priests and in the sight of all the people who were standing in the ^ahouse of Yahweh,

⁶and the prophet Jeremiah said, “^aAmen! May Yahweh do so; may Yahweh establish your words which you have prophesied to return the vessels of the house of Yahweh and all the exiles, from Babylon to this place.

⁷“Yet ^ahear now this word which I am about to speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people!

⁸“The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times ^aprophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of calamity and of pestilence.

⁹“The prophet who prophesies of peace, ^awhen the word of the prophet comes to pass, then that prophet will be known as one whom Yahweh has truly sent.”

¹⁰Then Hananiah the prophet took ^athe bar of the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it.

¹¹And Hananiah spoke…