Jeremiah 27–29

Judah Will Serve Nebuchadnezzar

27A message came to me from the Lord. It was shortly after Zedekiah became king of Judah. He was the son of Josiah. ²The Lord said, “Make a yoke out of ropes and wooden boards. Put it on your neck.

³“Then write down a message for the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon. Give it to their messengers who have come to Jerusalem. They have come to see Zedekiah, the king of Judah. ⁴Give them a message for the kings who sent them. It should say, ‘The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “Here is what I want you to tell your masters. ⁵I reached out my great and powerful arm. I made the earth. I made its people and animals. And I can give the earth to anyone I please.

⁶“ ‘ “Now I will hand all of your countries over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar. He is king of Babylonia. I will put even the wild animals under his control. ⁷All of the nations will serve him and his son and grandson. After that, I will judge his land. Then many nations and great kings will make him serve them.

⁸“ ‘ “But suppose any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia. And suppose it refuses to put its neck under his yoke. Then I will punish that nation with war, hunger and plague,” announces the Lord. “I will punish it until his powerful hand destroys it.

⁹“ ‘ “So do not listen to your prophets. Do not listen to those who claim to have secret knowledge. Do not listen to those who try to explain your dreams. Do not listen to those who get messages from people who have died. Do not listen to those who practice evil magic. All of them will tell you, ‘You won’t serve the king of Babylonia.’

¹⁰“ ‘ “But they prophesy lies to you. If you listen to them, you will be removed far away from your lands. I will drive you away from them. And you will die.

¹¹“ ‘ “But suppose any nation will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylonia. And suppose it serves him. Then I will let that nation remain in its own land. I will let its people plow the land and live there,” ’ ” announces the Lord.

¹²I gave the same message to Zedekiah, the king of Judah. I said, “Put your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylonia. Obey him. Serve his people. Then you will live. ¹³Why should you and your people die? Why should you die of war, hunger and plague? That’s what the Lord said would happen to any nation that won’t serve the king of Babylonia.

¹⁴“Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, ‘You won’t serve the king of Babylonia.’ They are prophesying lies to you. ¹⁵‘I have not sent them,’ announces the Lord. ‘They are prophesying lies in my name. So I will drive you away from your land. And you will die. So will the prophets who prophesy to you.’ ”

¹⁶Then I spoke to the priests and all of those people. I said, “The Lord says, ‘Do not listen to the prophets who say, “Very soon the articles from the Lord’s house will be brought back from Babylon.” They are prophesying lies to you. ¹⁷Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylonia. Then you will live. Why should this city be destroyed?

¹⁸“ ‘If they are prophets and have received a message from me, let them pray to me. I am the Lord who rules over all. Those prophets should pray that what is still in Jerusalem will remain here. They should pray that the articles in my house and the king’s palace will not be taken to Babylon.

¹⁹“ ‘I am the Lord who rules over all. Do you know what those articles are? They include the two pillars in front of the temple. They include the huge metal bowl. They include the bronze stands that can be moved around. And they include the other articles that are left in this city. ²⁰Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, did not take those things away at first. That was when he took King Jehoiachin from Jerusalem to Babylon. He also took all of the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem along with him. Jehoiachin is the son of Jehoiakim.

²¹“ ‘I am the Lord who rules over all. I am the God of Israel. Here is what will happen to the things that are left in my house, the king’s palace and Jerusalem. ²²They will be taken to Babylon. They will remain there until the day I come for them,’ announces the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them back. I will return them to this place.’ ”

Hananiah Opposes Jeremiah

28The prophet Hananiah spoke to me in the Lord’s house. It was shortly after Zedekiah became king of Judah. It was in the fifth month of his fourth year. Hananiah was from Gibeon. He was the son of Azzur. In front of the priests and all of the people Hananiah said to me, ²“The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylonia. ³Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, removed all of the articles that belong to my house. He took them to Babylon. Before two years are over, I will bring them back to this place.

⁴“ ‘I will also bring King Jehoiachin back. He is the son of Jehoiakim. And I will bring back all of the others who were taken from Judah to Babylon,’ announces the Lord. ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylonia.’ ”

⁵Then I, the prophet Jeremiah, replied to the prophet Hananiah. I spoke to him in front of the priests and all of the people. They were standing in the Lord’s house. ⁶I said, “Amen, Hananiah! May the Lord do those things! May he make the words you have prophesied come true. May he bring back from Babylon the articles that belong to the Lord’s house. May he bring back to this place all of the people who were taken away.

⁷“But listen to what I have to say. I want you and all of the people to hear it. ⁸There have been prophets long before you and I were ever born. They have prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms. They have spoken about war, trouble and plague. ⁹But what if a prophet says peace will come? Only if it comes true will he be recognized as one who has been truly sent by the Lord.”

¹⁰The prophet Hananiah took the yoke off my neck. Then he broke it. ¹¹In front of all of the people he said, “The Lord says, ‘In the same way, I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia. Before two years are over, I will remove it from the necks of all of the nations.’ ” When I heard that, I went on my way.

¹²A message came to me from the Lord. It was shortly after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off my neck. The message said, ¹³“Go. Tell Hananiah, ‘The Lord says, “You have broken a wooden yoke. But in its place you will get an iron yoke.” ¹⁴The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “I will put an iron yoke on the necks of all of those nations. I will make them serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia. So they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.” ’ ”

¹⁵Then I, the prophet Jeremiah, spoke to the prophet Hananiah. I said, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord hasn’t sent you. But you have tricked these people. Now they trust in lies. ¹⁶So the Lord says, ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. Before this year is over, you will die. You have taught the people to turn against me.’ ”

¹⁷In the seventh month of that very year, the prophet Hananiah died.

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Jews in Babylonia

29I, the prophet Jeremiah, sent a letter from Jerusalem to Babylonia. It was for the Jewish elders who were still alive there. It was also for the priests and prophets in Babylonia. And it was for all of the other people Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²It was sent to them after King Jehoiachin had been forced to leave Jerusalem. His mother and the court officials were taken with him. The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem and all of the skilled workers had also been forced to go to Babylon.

³I gave the letter to Elasah and Gemariah. Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had sent them to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Elasah was the son of Shaphan. Gemariah was the son of Hilkiah. Here is what the letter said.

⁴The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He speaks to all those he forced to go from Jerusalem to Babylon. He says, ⁵“Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. ⁶Get married. Have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons. Give your daughters to be married. Then they too can have sons and daughters. Increase your numbers there. Do not let the number of your people get smaller.

⁷“Also work for the success of the city I have sent you to. Pray to the Lord for that city. If it succeeds, you too will enjoy success.”

⁸The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “Do not let the prophets trick you. Do not be fooled by those who claim to have secret knowledge. Do not listen to people who try to explain their dreams to you. ⁹All of them are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” announces the Lord.

¹⁰The Lord says, “You will be forced to live in Babylonia for 70 years. After they are over, I will come to you. My gracious promise to you will come true. I will bring you back home.

¹¹“I know the plans I have for you,” announces the Lord. “I want you to enjoy success. I do not plan to harm you. I will give you hope for the years to come. ¹²Then you will call out to me. You will come and pray to me. And I will listen to you. ¹³When you look for me with all your heart, you will find me.

¹⁴“I will be found by you,” announces the Lord. “And I will bring you back from where you were taken as prisoners. I will gather you from all of the nations. I will gather you from the places where I have forced you to go,” announces the Lord. “I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you away.”

¹⁵You might say, “The Lord has given us prophets in Babylonia.” ¹⁶But here is what the Lord says about the king who now sits on David’s throne. He also says it about all of the people who remain in this city. And he says it about all those who did not go with you to Babylon. ¹⁷The Lord who rules over all says, “I will send war, hunger and plague against them. I will make them like bad figs. They are so bad they can’t be…