Jeremiah 27-28

Complete Jewish Bible

27 At the beginning of the reign of Y’hoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y’hudah, this word came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai: ² “Adonai says this to me: ‘Make yourself a yoke of straps and crossbars, and put it on your neck. ³ Send [similar yokes] to the kings of Edom, of Mo’av, of the people of ‘Amon, of Tzor, and of Tzidon by means of the envoys they send to Yerushalayim, and to Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah. ⁴ Give them this message for their masters by telling their envoys that Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says for them to tell their masters:

⁵ “‘“I made the earth, humankind, and the animals on the earth by my great power and my outstretched arm; and I give it to whom it seems right to me. ⁶ For now, I have given over all these lands to my servant N’vukhadnetzar the king of Bavel; I have also given him the wild animals to serve him. ⁷ All the nations will serve him, his son and his grandson, until his own country gets its turn — at which time many nations and great kings will make him their slave. ⁸ The nation and kingdom that refuses to serve this N’vukhadnetzar king of Bavel, that will not put their necks under the yoke of the king of Bavel, I will punish,” says Adonai “with sword, famine and plague, until I have put an end to them through him.

⁹ “‘“You, therefore, don’t listen to your prophets, diviners, dreamers, magicians or sorcerers, when they tell you that you won’t be subject to the king of Bavel; ¹⁰ for they are prophesying lies to you that will result in your being removed far from your land, with my driving you out, so that you perish. ¹¹ But the nation that puts its neck under the yoke of the king of Bavel and serves him, that nation I will allow to remain on their own soil,” says Adonai. “They will farm it and live there.”’”

¹² Then I spoke to Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah in just the same way: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Bavel, serve him and his people, and you will live. ¹³ Why would you want to die, you and your people, by sword, famine and plague — which is what Adonai has decreed for the nation that will not serve the king of Bavel? ¹⁴ Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Bavel’; because they are prophesying lies to you. ¹⁵ ‘For I have not sent them,’ says Adonai, ‘and they are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out, and you will perish — you and the prophets prophesying to you.’”

¹⁶ I also spoke to the cohanim and to all this people; I said, “This is what Adonai says: ‘Don’t listen to the words of the prophets prophesying to you that the articles from Adonai’s house will soon be returned from Bavel; because they are prophesying lies to you. ¹⁷ Don’t listen to them. Serve the king of Bavel, and stay alive; why should this city become a ruin?’ ¹⁸ But if they are in fact prophets, and if the word of Adonai is with them, then let them now intercede with Adonai-Tzva’ot that the articles still remaining in the house of Adonai and in the palace of the king of Y’hudah will not go off to Bavel. ¹⁹ For this is what Adonai-Tzva’ot says concerning the columns, the Sea, the bases and the rest of the articles still here in this city, ²⁰ that N’vukhadnetzar, king of Bavel did not seize when he carried off captive Y’khanyahu the son of Y’hoyakim, king of Y’hudah, from Yerushalayim to Bavel, along with all the leading men of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim — ²¹ yes, this is what Adonai Shaddai, the God of Isra’el, says about the things remaining in the house of Adonai, in the palace of the king of Y’hudah and in Yerushalayim: ²² ‘They will be carried to Bavel; and there they will stay until the day I remember them, bring them back and restore them to this place,’ says Adonai.”

28 That same year, at the beginning of the reign of Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananyah the son of ‘Azur the prophet, from Giv‘on, spoke to me in Adonai’s house in front of the cohanim and all the people, saying, ² “This is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Bavel. ³ Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles from Adonai’s house that N’vukhadnetzar king of Bavel removed from this place and carried to Bavel. ⁴ Also I will bring back here Y’khanyah the son of Y’hoyakim, king of Y’hudah, along with all those from Y’hudah who were taken captive to Bavel,’ says Adonai, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Bavel.’”

⁵ Then the prophet Yirmeyahu said to the prophet Hananyah in front of the cohanim and all the people standing in Adonai’s house — ⁶ the prophet Yirmeyahu said, “Amen! May Adonai do it! May Adonai fulfill the words you have prophesied and bring back from Bavel to this place the articles from Adonai’s house and all the people who were carried away captive! ⁷ Nevertheless, listen now to this word that I am speaking for you to hear and for all the people to hear. ⁸ The prophets who were here before me and before you prophesied in times past against many countries and against great kingdoms about war, disaster and plagues. ⁹ As for a prophet who prophesies peace — when the word of that prophet is fulfilled, it will be evident concerning that prophet that Adonai indeed did send him.”

¹⁰ At this point Hananyah the prophet took the crossbar off the prophet Yirmeyahu’s neck and broke it. ¹¹ Then Hananyah, in front of all the people, said, “Thus says Adonai: ‘In just this way will I break off the yoke of N’vukhadnetzar king of Bavel from the necks of all the nations within two years.’”

The prophet Yirmeyahu left them; ¹² but then this word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu, after Hananyah the prophet had broken off the crossbar from the neck of the prophet Yirmeyahu: ¹³ “Go and tell Hananyah that Adonai:says, ‘You have broken the crossbars of wood, but you will make in their place crossbars of iron. ¹⁴ For here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: “I have put a yoke of iron on the necks of all these nations, so that they can serve N’vukhadnetzar king of Bavel; and they will serve him; and I have given him the wild animals too.”’”

¹⁵ Then the prophet Yirmeyahu said to Hananyah the prophet, “Listen here, Hananyah! Adonai has not sent you! You are making these people trust in a lie! ¹⁶ Therefore, here is what Adonai says: ‘I am about to send you away from the face of the earth — this year you will die, because you have preached rebellion against Adonai.’” ¹⁷ Hananyah the prophet died that same year, in the seventh month.