Jeremiah 28:1–11

The False Prophet Hananiah

28In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, early in the reign of Zedekiah^e king of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon,^f said to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people: ²“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke^g of the king of Babylon. ³Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles^h of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. ⁴I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin^ai son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ ”^j

⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah before the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord. ⁶He said, “Amen! May the Lord do so! May the Lord fulfill the words you have prophesied by bringing the articles of the Lord’s house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon.^{k 7}Nevertheless, listen to what I have to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: ⁸From early times the prophets who preceded you and me have prophesied war, disaster and plague^l against many countries and great kingdoms. ⁹But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true.^m”

¹⁰Then the prophet Hananiah took the yokeⁿ off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it, ¹¹and he said^o before all the people, “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck of all the nations within two years.’ ” At this, the prophet Jeremiah went on his way.