^26:1The Lord spoke to Jeremiah¹ at the beginning of the reign² of Josiah’s son, King Jehoiakim of Judah. ^26:2The Lord said, “Go stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple.³ Speak out to all the people who are coming from the towns of Judah to worship in the Lord’s temple. Tell them everything I command you to tell them. Do not leave out a single word! ^26:3Maybe they will pay attention and each of them will stop living the evil way they do.⁴ If they do that, then I will forgo destroying them⁵ as I had intended to do because of the wicked things they have been doing.⁶

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Footnotes

102 Beginning with Jer 26 up to Jer 45 the book narrates in third person style incidents in the life of Jeremiah and prophecies (or sermons) he gave in obedience to the Lord’s commands. Baruch is the probable narrator, passing on information gleaned from Jeremiah himself. (See Jer 36:4, 18, 32; 45:1 and also 32:13–14 where it is clear that Baruch is Jeremiah’s scribe or secretary.) Chapters 26–29 contain narratives concerning reactions to Jeremiah’s prophecies and his conflict with the prophets who were prophesying that things would be all right (see, e.g., 14:14–15; 23:21).
1 The words “to Jeremiah” are not in the Hebrew text. They are added by the Old Latin (not the ) and the versions. They are implicit, however, to the narrative style which speaks of Jeremiah in the third person (cf. vv. 7, 12). They have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
2 It is often thought that the term here is equivalent to a technical term in Akkadian (reshsharruti) which refers to the part of the year remaining from the death or deposing of the previous king until the beginning of the calendar year when the new king officially ascended the throne. In this case it would refer to the part of the year between September, 609 b.c. when Jehoiakim was placed on the throne as a puppet king by Pharaoh Necho (2 Kgs 23:34–35) and April, 608 b.c. when he would have been officially celebrated as king. However, it will be suggested below in conjunction with the textual problems in 27:1 and 28:1 that the term does not necessarily refer to this period.
3 It is generally agreed that the incident recorded in this chapter relates to the temple message that Jeremiah gave in 7:1–15. The message there is summarized here in vv. 3–6. The primary interest here is in the response to that message.
4 Heb “will turn from his wicked way.”
5 For the idiom and translation of terms involved here see 18:8 and the translator’s note there. The Lord is being consistent in the application of the principle laid down in Jer 18:7–8 that reformation of character will result in the withdrawal of the punishment of “uprooting, tearing down, destroying.” His prophecies of doom are conditional threats, open to change with change in behavior.
6 Heb “because of the wickedness of their deeds.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: “Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word. It may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, that I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of their evil deeds.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: “This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the Lord. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word. Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: “This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all Judah’s cities that are coming to worship there. Do not hold back a word. Perhaps they will listen and turn—each from his evil way of life—so that I might relent concerning the disaster that I plan to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.

NLTNew Living Translation

This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah. “This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard in front of the Temple of the Lord, and make an announcement to the people who have come there to worship from all over Judah. Give them my entire message; include every word. Perhaps they will listen and turn from their evil ways. Then I will change my mind about the disaster I am ready to pour out on them because of their sins.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came from Yahweh, saying, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Stand in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and you must speak to all the cities of Judah that come to bow in worship in the house of Yahweh all the words that I command you to speak to them. You must not omit a word. Perhaps they will listen and turn back each from his evil way, and I will relent of the disaster that I am planning to do to them because of their evil deeds.

KJV 1900King James Version

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the Lord, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Stand 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, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word: If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.

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Jeremiah 26:1–3

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Jeremiah Is Put on Trial as a False Prophet102