Symbol of the Bonds and Yokes

27 In 1the beginning of the reign of 2Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, aking of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord to me: ‘Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, band put them on your neck, 3 and send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 And command them to say to their masters, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel—thus you shall say to your masters: 5 c‘I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and dhave given it to whom it seemed proper to Me. 6 eAnd now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, fMy servant; and gthe beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. 7 hSo all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, iuntil the time of his land comes; jand then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. 8 And it shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,’ says the Lord, ‘with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. 9 Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your 3dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon.” 10 For they prophesy a klie to you, to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let them remain in their own land,’ says the Lord, ‘and they shall till it and dwell in it.’ ” ’ ”

12 I also spoke to lZedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live! 13 mWhy will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 Therefore ndo not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy oa lie to you; 15 for I have pnot sent them,” says the Lord, “yet they prophesy a lie in My name, that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

16 Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, “Behold, qthe vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon”; for they prophesy a lie to you. 17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city be laid waste? 18 But if they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon.’

19 “For thus says the Lord of hosts rconcerning the pillars, concerning the Sea, concerning the carts, and concerning the remainder of the vessels that remain in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away scaptive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem—21 yes, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the tvessels that remain in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem: 22 ‘They shall be ucarried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I vvisit them,’ says the Lord. ‘Then wI will bring them up and restore them to this place.’ ”

Hananiah’s Falsehood and Doom

28 And ait happened in the same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the bfourth year and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of cAzur the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, 2 “Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘I have broken dthe yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 eWithin two full years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ftook away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4 And I will bring back to this place 1Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah who went to Babylon,’ says the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ ”

5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of the Lord, 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, g“Amen! The Lord do so; the Lord perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the Lord’s house and all who were carried away captive, from Babylon to this place. 7 Nevertheless hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: 8 The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms—of war and disaster and pestilence. 9 As for hthe prophet who prophesies of ipeace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom the Lord has truly sent.”

10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the jyoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it. 11 And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon kfrom the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.’ ” And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

12 Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, 13 “Go and tell Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron.” 14 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: l“I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. mI have given him the beasts of the field also.” ’ ”

15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, but nyou make this people trust in a olie. 16 Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall pdie, because you have taught qrebellion against the Lord.’ ”

17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Captives

29 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were acarried away captive—to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This happened after bJeconiah 1the king, the cqueen mother, the 2eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of dShaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,

4 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:

5 Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6 Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. 7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, eand pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst fdeceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. 9 For they prophesy gfalsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord.

10 For thus says the Lord: After hseventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to ireturn to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will jcall upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will klisten to you. 13 And lyou will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me mwith all your heart. 14 nI will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; oI will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

15 Because you have said, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon”—16 ptherefore thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity—17 thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like qrotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. 18 And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I rwill deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth—to be sa curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they have not heeded My words, says the Lord, which tI sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; neither would you heed, says the Lord. 20 Therefore …