Jeremiah 26

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 as for me, behold, ^aI am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your sight.

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 the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

Jeremiah Is Spared

¹⁶Then the officials and all the people ^asaid to the priests and to the prophets, “No ^bdeath sentence for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord 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 the Lord of hosts has said,

“^bZion will be plowed as a field,

And Jerusalem will become ruins,

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

¹⁹“Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not ^afear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, and ^bthe Lord ¹changed His mind about the misfortune which He had pronounced against them? But we are ^ccommitting a great evil against ourselves.”

²⁰Indeed, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, 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.

²¹When King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and all the officials heard his words, then 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 from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who ^aslew him 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.