Prophecy of the Captivity

25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the ^(A)fourth year of ^(B)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the ^(C)first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), ² the word which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the ^(D)people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ³ “From the ^(E)thirteenth year of ^(F)Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, ^[a]these ^(G)twenty-three years the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you ^(H)again and again, but you have not listened. ⁴ And the Lord has sent to you all His ^(I)servants the prophets again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear, ⁵ saying, ‘^(J)Turn now, everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the land which the Lord has given to you and your forefathers ^(K)forever and ever; ⁶ and ^(L)do not follow other gods to ^[b]serve them and to ^[c]worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, then I will do you no harm.’ ⁷ Yet you have not listened to Me,” declares the Lord, “in order to ^(M)provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.

⁸ “Therefore this is what the Lord of armies says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, ⁹ behold, I will ^(N)send and take all the families of the north,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^(O)My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will ^[d]completely destroy them and ^(P)make them an object of horror and ^[e]hissing, and an everlasting place of ruins. ¹⁰ Moreover, I will ^(Q)eliminate from them the voice of jubilation and the voice of joy, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the ^(R)sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. ^11 (S)This entire land will be a place of ruins and an object of horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for ^(T)seventy years.

Babylon Will Be Judged

¹² ‘Then it will be ^(U)when seventy years are completed I will ^(V)punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their wrongdoing, and the land of the Chaldeans; and ^(W)I will make it an everlasting desolation. ¹³ I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in ^(X)this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against ^(Y)all the nations. ¹⁴ (^[f]For ^(Z)many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will ^(AA)repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)’”

¹⁵ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me: “Take this ^(AB)cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and give it to all the nations to whom I send you, to drink from it. ¹⁶ Then they will ^(AC)drink and loudly vomit and act insanely because of the sword that I am going to send among them.”

¹⁷ So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and ^(AD)gave it to all the nations to whom the Lord sent me, to drink from it: ¹⁸ To ^(AE)Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, and its kings and its officials, to make them places of ruins, objects of horror, ^[g]hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; ¹⁹ To ^(AF)Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, and all his people; ²⁰ and to all the ^(AG)foreign ^[h]people, all the kings of the ^(AH)land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the ^(AI)Philistines (that is, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of ^(AJ)Ashdod); ²¹ To ^(AK)Edom, ^(AL)Moab, and the sons of ^(AM)Ammon; ²² and to all the kings of ^(AN)Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of ^(AO)the coastlands which are beyond the sea; ²³ and to ^(AP)Dedan, Tema, ^(AQ)Buz, and all who ^(AR)trim the corners of their hair; ²⁴ and to all the kings of ^(AS)Arabia and all the kings of the ^(AT)foreign ^[i]people who live in the desert; ²⁵ and to all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of ^(AU)Elam, and all the kings of ^(AV)Media; ²⁶ and to all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and ^(AW)all the kingdoms of the earth which are on the face of the ground; and the king of ^[j](AX)Sheshach shall drink it after them.

²⁷ “And you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “^(AY)Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall down, and do not get up, because of the ^(AZ)sword which I am sending among you.”’ ²⁸ And if they ^(BA)refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “^(BB)You shall certainly drink! ²⁹ For behold, I am ^(BC)beginning to inflict disaster on this city which is ^(BD)called by My name, so should you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment, for ^(BE)I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares the Lord of armies.’

³⁰ “Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them,

³³ “Those ^(BL)put to death by the Lord on that day will be from one end of the earth to the ^[m]other. They will ^(BM)not be mourned, gathered, or buried; they will be like ^(BN)dung on the face of the ground.

The Rechabites’ Obedience

35 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of ^(A)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ² “Go to the house of the ^(B)Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the ^(C)chambers, and give them wine to drink.” ³ So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons, and all the household of the Rechabites, ⁴ and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the ^(D)man of God, which was next to the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, ^(E)the doorkeeper. ⁵ Then I set before the ^[a]men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “^(F)Drink wine!” ⁶ But they said, “We will not drink wine, for ^(G)Jonadab the son of ^(H)Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall ^(I)not drink wine, you or your sons, forever. ⁷ You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed nor plant a vineyard, nor ^[b]own one; but you shall live in ^(J)tents all your days, so that you may live ^(K)many days ^[c]in the land where you ^(L)live as strangers.’ ⁸ And we have ^(M)obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, ⁹ nor to build ourselves houses to live in; and we ^(N)do not have a vineyard, a field, or seed. ¹⁰ But we have ^(O)lived only in tents, and have obeyed and have done according to all that our father ^(P)Jonadab commanded us. ¹¹ However, when ^(Q)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let’s ^(R)go to Jerusalem away from the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Arameans.’ So we have lived in Jerusalem.”

Judah Rebuked

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “^(S)Will you not accept instruction by listening to My words?” declares the Lord. ¹⁴ “The ^(T)words of Jonadab the son of Rechab have been followed, which he commanded his sons: not to drink wine. And they do not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. But I have spoken to you ^(U)again and again, yet you have ^(V)not listened to Me. ¹⁵ Also I have sent to you all My ^(W)servants the prophets, sending them again and again, saying: ‘^(X)Turn now every person from his evil way and amend your deeds, and ^(Y)do not follow other gods to worship them. Then you will ^(Z)live in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers; but you have not ^(AA)inclined your ear or listened to Me. ¹⁶ Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have ^(AB)followed the command of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to Me.’”’ ¹⁷ Therefore this is what the Lord says, the God of armies, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, ^(AC)I am bringing on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I ^(AD)spoke to them but they did not listen, and I have called them but they did not answer.’”

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have ^(AE)obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, kept all his commands, and done according to all that he commanded you, ¹⁹ therefore this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Jonadab the son of Rechab ^(AF)will not lack a man to ^(AG)stand before Me ^[d]always.”’”

Jeremiah’s Scroll Read in the Temple

36 In the ^(A)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ² “Take a ^[a](B)scroll and write on it all the ^(C)words which I have spoken to you concerning ^(D)Israel, Judah, and all the ^(E)nations, from the ^(F)day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. ^3 (G)Perhaps the house of Judah will listen to all the disaster which I plan to carry out against them, so that every person will ^(H)turn from his evil way; then I will ^(I)forgive their wrongdoing and their sin.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah called ^(J)Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a ^[b](K)scroll ^[c]at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which He had spoken to him. ⁵ Jeremiah then commanded Baruch, saying, “I am ^[d](L)restricted; I cannot go into the house of the Lord. ⁶ So you go and ^(M)read from the scroll, which you have ^(N)written ^[e]at my dictation, the words of the Lord ^[f]to the people at the Lord’s house on a day of ^(O)fasting. And you shall also read them ^[g]to all the people of Judah who come from their cities. ^7 (P)Perhaps their pleading will ^[h]come before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way; for ^(Q)great is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” ⁸ So Baruch the son of Neriah acted in accordance with all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, ^(R)reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

⁹ Now in the ^(S)fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ^(T)ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who ^(U)came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a ^(V)fast before the Lord. ¹⁰ Then Baruch read to all the people from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord in the ^(W)chamber of ^(X)Gemariah the son of Shaphan the ^(Y)scribe, in the upper courtyard, at the ^(Z)entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house.

¹¹ Now when ^(AA)Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the Lord from the book, ¹² he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there—^(AB)Elishama the scribe, ^(AC)Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, ^(AD)Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. ¹³ And Micaiah ^(AE)declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the book to the people. ¹⁴ Then all the officials sent ^(AF)Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, who was the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah ^(AG)took the scroll in his hand and came to them. ¹⁵ And they said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch ^(AH)read it to them. ¹⁶ When they had heard all the words, they turned in ^(AI)fear one to another. And they said to Baruch, “We will certainly ^(AJ)report all these words to the king.” ¹⁷ Then they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us, please, ^(AK)how did you write all these words? Was it ^[i]at Jeremiah’s dictation?” ¹⁸ And Baruch said to them, “He ^(AL)dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book.” ¹⁹ Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, ^(AM)hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.”

The Scroll Is Burned

²⁰ So they came to the ^(AN)king in the courtyard, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of ^(AO)Elishama the scribe; and they reported all the words to the king. ²¹ Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi ^(AP)read it to the king as well as to all the officials who were standing beside the king. ²² Now the king was sitting in the ^(AQ)winter house in the ^(AR)ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him. ²³ And when Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and ^(AS)threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all of the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. ²⁴ Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words did ^(AT)not tremble in fear, nor did they ^(AU)tear their garments. ²⁵ Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah ^(AV)urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. ²⁶ And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to ^(AW)seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the ^(AX)Lord hid them.

The Scroll Is Replaced

²⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had ^(AY)burned the scroll and the words which ^(AZ)Baruch had written ^[j]at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying, ²⁸ “^(BA)Take again another scroll and write on it all the previous words that were ^(BB)on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned. ²⁹ And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You have ^(BC)burned this scroll, saying, ‘^(BD)Why have you written on it ^[k]that the ^(BE)king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will make mankind and animals disappear from it?’” ³⁰ Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: “He shall have ^(BF)no one to sit on the throne of David, and his ^(BG)dead body shall be thrown out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. ³¹ I will also ^(BH)punish him, his ^[l]descendants, and his servants for their wrongdoing, and I will ^(BI)bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the people of Judah all the disaster that I have declared to them—but they did not listen.”’”

³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch the son of Neriah, and he ^(BJ)wrote on it at the ^[m]dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many ^[n]similar words were added to them.

Message to Baruch

45 This is the message which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to ^(A)Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had ^(B)written these words in a book ^[a]at Jeremiah’s dictation, in the ^(C)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying: ² “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says to you, Baruch: ³ ‘You said, “Oh, woe to me! For the Lord has added grief to my pain; I am ^(D)weary with my groaning and have found no rest.”’ ⁴ This is what you are to say to him: ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, ^(E)what I have built I am going to tear down, and what I have planted I am going to uproot, that is, all the people of the land.” ⁵ But as for you, are you ^(F)seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to ^(G)bring disaster on all flesh,’ declares the Lord, ‘but I will ^(H)give your life to you as plunder in all the places where you may go.’”

The Tongue Is a Fire

3 ^(A)Do not become teachers in large numbers, ^(B)my brothers, since you know that we who are teachers will incur a ^[a]stricter judgment. ² For we all ^(C)stumble in many ways. ^(D)If anyone does not stumble in ^[b]what he says, he is a ^(E)perfect man, able to ^[c](F)rein in the whole body as well. ³ Now ^(G)if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their whole body as well. ⁴ Look at the ships too: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are nevertheless directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot determines. ⁵ So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it ^(H)boasts of great things.

^(I)See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! ⁶ And ^(J)the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among ^[d]our body’s parts as that which ^(K)defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of our ^[e]life, and is set on fire by ^[f](L)hell. ⁷ For every ^[g]species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human ^[h]race. ⁸ But no one among mankind can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of ^(M)deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless ^(N)our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people, ^(O)who have been made in the likeness of God; ¹⁰ from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way. ¹¹ Does a spring send out from the same opening both ^[i]fresh and bitter water? ^12 (P)Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, bear olives, or a vine bear figs? Nor can salt water produce ^[j]fresh.

Wisdom from Above

¹³ Who among you is wise and understanding? ^(Q)Let him show by his ^(R)good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter ^(S)jealousy and ^[k]selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against ^(T)the truth. ¹⁵ This wisdom is not that which comes down ^(U)from above, but is ^(V)earthly, ^[l](W)natural, ^(X)demonic. ¹⁶ For where ^(Y)jealousy and ^[m]selfish ambition exist, ^[n]there is disorder and every evil thing. ¹⁷ But the wisdom ^(Z)from above is first ^(AA)pure, then ^(AB)peace-loving, ^(AC)gentle, ^[o]reasonable, ^(AD)full of mercy and good fruits, ^[p](AE)impartial, free of ^(AF)hypocrisy. ¹⁸ And the ^(AG)fruit of righteousness is sown in peace ^[q]by those who make peace.

The Excellency of Brotherly Unity.

A Song of Ascents, of David.