Jeremiah 27–29

Judah to Serve Nebuchadnezzar

27Early in the reign of Zedekiah^ag son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²This is what the Lord said to me: “Make a yoke^h out of straps and crossbars and put it on your neck. ³Then sendⁱ word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon,^j Tyre and Sidon^k through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. ⁴Give them a message for their masters and say, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Tell this to your masters: ⁵With my great power and outstretched arm^l I made^m the earth and its people and the animalsⁿ that are on it, and I give^o it to anyone I please. ⁶Now I will give all your countries into the hands of my servant^p Nebuchadnezzar^q king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him.^{r 7}All nations will serve^s him and his son and his grandson until the time^t for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate^u him.

⁸“ ‘ “If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish^v that nation with the sword,^w famine^x and plague,^y declares the Lord, until I destroy it by his hand. ⁹So do not listen to your prophets,^z your diviners,^a your interpreters of dreams,^b your mediums^c or your sorcerers^d who tell you, ‘You will not serve^e the king of Babylon.’ ¹⁰They prophesy lies^f to you that will only serve to remove^g you far from your lands; I will banish you and you will perish. ¹¹But if any nation will bow its neck under the yoke^h of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let that nation remain in its own land to till it and to liveⁱ there, declares the Lord.” ’ ”

¹²I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah. I said, “Bow your neck under the yoke^j of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and you will live.^{k 13}Why will you and your people die^l by the sword, famine and plague^m with which the Lord has threatened any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴Do not listenⁿ to the words of the prophets^o who say to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying lies^p to you. ¹⁵‘I have not sent^q them,’ declares the Lord. ‘They are prophesying lies in my name.^r Therefore, I will banish you and you will perish,^s both you and the prophets who prophesy to you.’ ”

¹⁶Then I said to the priests and all these people, “This is what the Lord says: Do not listen to the prophets who say, ‘Very soon now the articles^t from the Lord’s house will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying lies to you. ¹⁷Do not listen^u to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and you will live.^v Why should this city become a ruin? ¹⁸If they are prophets and have the word of the Lord, let them plead^w with the Lord Almighty that the articles remaining in the house of the Lord and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem not be taken to Babylon. ¹⁹For this is what the Lord Almighty says about the pillars, the bronze Sea,^x the movable stands and the other articles^y that are left in this city, ²⁰which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away when he carried^z Jehoiachin^ba son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem—²¹yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about the things that are left in the house of the Lord and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: ²²‘They will be taken^b to Babylon and there they will remain until the day^c I come for them,’ declares the Lord. ‘Then I will bring^d them back and restore them to this place.’ ”

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.

¹²After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³“Go and tell Hananiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but in its place you will get a yoke of iron. ¹⁴This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will put an iron yoke^p on the necks of all these nations to make them serve^q Nebuchadnezzar^r king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.^s’ ”

¹⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent^t you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies.^{u 16}Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth.^v This very year you are going to die,^w because you have preached rebellion^x against the Lord.’ ”

¹⁷In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died.^y

A Letter to the Exiles

29This is the text of the letter^z that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.^{a 2}(This was after King Jehoiachin^ab and the queen mother,^c the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) ³He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:

⁴This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried^d into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵“Build^e houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. ⁶Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.^{f 7}Also, seek^g the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray^h to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” ⁸Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophetsⁱ and diviners among you deceive^j you. Do not listen to the dreams^k you encourage them to have.^{l 9}They are prophesying lies^m to you in my name. I have not sentⁿ them,” declares the Lord.

¹⁰This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years^o are completed for Babylon, I will come to you^p and fulfill my good promise^q to bring you back^r to this place. ¹¹For I know the plans^s I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper^t you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.^{u 12}Then you will call^v on me and come and pray^w to me, and I will listen^x to you. ¹³You will seek^y me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.^{z 14}I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back^a from captivity.^b I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”^b

¹⁵You may say, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,” ¹⁶but this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile—¹⁷yes, this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague^c against them and I will make them like figs^d that are so bad they cannot be eaten. ¹⁸I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent^e to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse^cf and an object of horror,^g of scorn^h and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. ¹⁹For they have not listened to my words,”ⁱ declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again^j by my servants the prophets.^k And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the Lord.

²⁰Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I have sent^l away from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²¹This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies^m to you in my name: “I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes. ²²Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burnedⁿ in the fire.’ ²³For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have…