Jeremiah 26–52

Jeremiah Saved from Death

26In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying, ²“Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand in ^athe court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord’s house, ^ball the words that I command you to speak to them. ^cDo not diminish a word. ^3dPerhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may ^erelent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.’ ⁴And you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^f“If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, ⁵to heed the words of My servants the prophets ^gwhom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not heeded), ⁶then I will make this house like ^hShiloh, and will make this city ⁱa curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”

⁷So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. ⁸Now it happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You will surely die! ⁹Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be ^jdesolate, without an inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

¹⁰When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat down in the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house. ¹¹And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and all the people, saying, ¹“This man deserves to ^kdie! For he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.”

¹²Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying: “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all the words that you have heard. ¹³Now therefore, ^lamend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; then the Lord will relent concerning the doom that He has pronounced against you. ¹⁴As for me, here ^mI am, in your hand; do with me as seems good and ²proper to you. ¹⁵But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

¹⁶So the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve to die. For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”

¹⁷ⁿThen certain of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying: ^18o“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^p“Zion shall be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem shall become ^qheaps of ruins,

And the mountain of the ³temple

Like the ⁴bare hills of the forest.” ’

¹⁹Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death? ^rDid he not fear the Lord and ^sseek the Lord’s favor? And the Lord ^trelented concerning the doom which He had pronounced against them. ^uBut we are doing great evil against ourselves.”

²⁰Now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath Jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah. ²¹And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt. ²²Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor, and other men who went with him to Egypt. ²³And they brought Urijah from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the ⁵common people.

²⁴Nevertheless ^vthe hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

Symbol of the Bonds and Yokes

27In 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, ³and 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. ⁴And command them to say to their masters, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel—thus you shall say to your masters: ^5c‘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. ^6eAnd 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. ^7hSo 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. ⁸And 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. ⁹Therefore 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.” ¹⁰For they prophesy a ^klie to you, to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out, and you will perish. ¹¹But 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.’ ” ’ ”

¹²I 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! ^13mWhy 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? ¹⁴Therefore 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; ¹⁵for 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.”

¹⁶Also 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. ¹⁷Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city be laid waste? ¹⁸But 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, ²⁰which 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—²¹yes, 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

28And ^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. ^3eWithin 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. ⁴And 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.’ ”

⁵Then 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, ⁶and 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. ⁷Nevertheless hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: ⁸The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms—of war and disaster and pestilence. ⁹As 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.”

¹⁰Then Hananiah the prophet took the ^jyoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it. ¹¹And 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…