Jeremiah 24–26

Chapter 24

Baskets of Figs and the Returnees

¹After ^aNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me: behold, two ^bbaskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord!

²One basket had very good figs, like ^afirst-ripe figs, and the other basket had ^bvery bad figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness.

³Then the Lord said to me, “^aWhat do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad figs, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness.”

⁴Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁵“Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard ^aas good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans.

⁶‘For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will ^abring them again to this land; and I will ^bbuild them up and not overthrow them, and I will ^cplant them and not pluck them up.

⁷‘I will give them a ^aheart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be ^bMy people, and I will be their God, for they will ^creturn to Me with their whole heart.

⁸‘But like the ^abad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness—indeed, thus says the Lord—so I will ¹abandon ^bZedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the ^cremnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who dwell in the land of ^dEgypt.

⁹‘I will ^amake them a terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a ^breproach and a proverb, a taunt and a ^ccurse in all places where I will scatter them.

¹⁰‘I will send the ^asword, the famine and the pestilence upon them until they are destroyed from the land which I gave to them and their forefathers.’ ”

Chapter 25

Prophecy of the Captivity

¹The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the ^afourth year of ^bJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the ^cfirst year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),

²which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the ^apeople of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,

³“From the ^athirteenth year of ^bJosiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, ¹these ^ctwenty-three years the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you ^2dagain and again, but you have not listened.

⁴“And the Lord has sent to you all His ^aservants the prophets ¹again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear,

⁵saying, ‘^aTurn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and dwell on the land which the Lord has given to you and your forefathers ^bforever and ever;

⁶and ^ado not go after other gods to ¹serve them and to ²worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no harm.’

⁷“Yet you have not listened to Me,” declares the Lord, “in order that you might ^aprovoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.

⁸“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Because you have not obeyed My words,

⁹behold, I will ^asend and take all the families of the north,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^bMy servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about; and I will ¹utterly destroy them and ^cmake them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation.

¹⁰‘Moreover, I will ^1atake from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the ^bsound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.

¹¹‘^aThis whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon ^bseventy years.

Babylon Will Be Judged

¹²‘Then it will be ^awhen seventy years are completed I will ^bpunish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and ^cI will make it an everlasting desolation.

¹³‘I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in ^athis book which Jeremiah has prophesied against ^ball the nations.

¹⁴‘(¹For ^amany nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will ^brecompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)’ ”

¹⁵For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this ^acup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.

¹⁶“They will ^adrink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”

¹⁷Then I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and ^amade all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it:

^18aJerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing and a curse, as it is this day;

^19aPharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes and all his people;

²⁰and all the ^1aforeign people, all the kings of the ^bland of Uz, all the kings of the land of the ^cPhilistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and the remnant of ^dAshdod);

^21aEdom, ^bMoab and the sons of ^cAmmon;

²²and all the kings of ^aTyre, all the kings of Sidon and the kings of ^bthe coastlands which are beyond the sea;

²³and ^aDedan, Tema, ^bBuz and all who ^ccut the corners of their hair;

²⁴and all the kings of ^aArabia and all the kings of the ^1bforeign people who dwell in the desert;

²⁵and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of ^aElam and all the kings of ^bMedia;

²⁶and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and ^aall the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of ^1bSheshach shall drink after them.

²⁷“You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “^aDrink, be drunk, vomit, fall and rise no more because of the ^bsword which I will send among you.” ’

²⁸“And it will be, if they ^arefuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “^bYou shall surely drink!

²⁹“For behold, I am ^abeginning to work calamity in this city which is ^bcalled by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment; for ^cI am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares the Lord of hosts.’

³⁰“Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them,

‘The ^aLord will ^broar from on high

And utter His voice from His holy habitation;

He will roar mightily against His ¹fold.

He will shout like those who tread the grapes,

Against all the inhabitants of the earth.

³¹‘A clamor has come to the end of the earth,

Because the Lord has ^aa controversy with the nations.

He is entering into ^bjudgment with all flesh;

As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ declares the Lord.”

³²Thus says the Lord of hosts,

“Behold, evil is going forth

From ^anation to nation,

And a great ^bstorm is being stirred up

From the remotest parts of the earth.

³³“Those ^aslain by the Lord on that day will be from one end of the earth to the ¹other. They will ^bnot be lamented, gathered or buried; they will be like ^cdung on the face of the ground.

³⁴“Wail, you shepherds, and cry;

And ^awallow in ashes, you masters of the flock;

For the days of your ^bslaughter and your dispersions ¹have come,

And you will fall like a choice vessel.

³⁵“^aFlight will perish from the shepherds,

And escape from the masters of the flock.

³⁶“Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds,

And the wailing of the masters of the flock!

For the Lord is destroying their pasture,

³⁷“And the peaceful ^1afolds are made silent

Because of the ^bfierce anger of the Lord.

³⁸“He has left His hiding place ^alike the lion;

For their land has become a horror

Because of the fierceness of the ¹oppressing sword

And because of His fierce anger.”

Chapter 26

Cities of Judah Warned

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

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

³‘^aPerhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that ^bI may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.’

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

⁵to listen to the words of ^aMy servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you ¹again and again, 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.” ’ ”

A Plot to Murder Jeremiah

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

⁸When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “^aYou must die!

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

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

¹¹Then the priests and the prophets ^aspoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A ^bdeath sentence 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, “^aThe Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.

¹³“Now therefore ^aamend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will ¹change His mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you.

¹⁴“But…