A Prophecy against Zedekiah

34 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when ^(A)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with ^(B)all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his ^[a]control and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and all its cities, saying, ² “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘^(C)Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, ^(D)I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon, and ^(E)he will burn it with fire. ³ And as for you, ^(F)you will not escape from his hand, for you will assuredly be caught and handed over to him; and you will ^(G)see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you ^[b]face to face, and you will go to Babylon.’”’ ⁴ Yet hear the word of the Lord, Zedekiah king of Judah! This is what the Lord says concerning you: ‘You will not die by the sword. ⁵ You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will ^(H)burn spices for you; and ^(I)they will mourn for you, crying, “Oh, my lord!”’ For I have spoken the word,” declares the Lord.

⁶ Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke ^(J)all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem ⁷ when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the remaining cities of Judah, that is, ^(K)Lachish and ^(L)Azekah, for they alone remained as ^(M)fortified cities among the cities of Judah.

⁸ The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had ^(N)made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, to ^(O)proclaim ^[c]release to them: ⁹ that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, a ^(P)Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, so that ^(Q)no one would keep them, his Jewish brother or sister, in bondage. ¹⁰ And all the ^(R)officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, so that no one would keep them in bondage any longer; they obeyed, and set them free. ¹¹ But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male servants and as female servants.

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ¹³ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘I ^(S)made a covenant with your forefathers on the day that I ^(T)brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying, ¹⁴ “^(U)At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who ^[d]has been sold to you and has served you for six years, and you shall send him out free from you.” But your forefathers ^(V)did not obey Me nor incline their ear to Me. ¹⁵ Although recently you had turned and ^(W)done what is right in My sight, each one proclaiming ^[e]release to his neighbor, and you had ^(X)made a covenant before Me ^(Y)in the house which is called by My name. ¹⁶ Yet you ^(Z)turned and ^(AA)profaned My name, and each person ^[f]took back his male servant and each his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male and female servants.’

¹⁷ “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming ^[g]release, each one to his brother and each to his neighbor. Behold, I am ^(AB)proclaiming a ^[h]release to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to the ^(AC)sword, to the plague, and to the famine; and I will make you a ^(AD)terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸ I will give the people who have ^(AE)violated My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they ^(AF)cut the calf in two and passed between its parts— ¹⁹ the ^(AG)officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the high officials and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— ²⁰ I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who ^(AH)seek their lives. And their ^(AI)dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth. ^21 (AJ)Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will also hand over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, and to the army of the king of Babylon which has ^(AK)withdrawn from you. ²² Behold, I am going to give a command,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring them back to this city, and they will fight against it and ^(AL)take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a ^(AM)desolation ^(AN)without inhabitant.’”

The Rechabites’ Obedience

35 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of ^(AO)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ² “Go to the house of the ^(AP)Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the ^(AQ)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 ^(AR)man of God, which was next to the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, ^(AS)the doorkeeper. ⁵ Then I set before the ^[i]men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “^(AT)Drink wine!” ⁶ But they said, “We will not drink wine, for ^(AU)Jonadab the son of ^(AV)Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall ^(AW)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 ^[j]own one; but you shall live in ^(AX)tents all your days, so that you may live ^(AY)many days ^[k]in the land where you ^(AZ)live as strangers.’ ⁸ And we have ^(BA)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 ^(BB)do not have a vineyard, a field, or seed. ¹⁰ But we have ^(BC)lived only in tents, and have obeyed and have done according to all that our father ^(BD)Jonadab commanded us. ¹¹ However, when ^(BE)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let’s ^(BF)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, “^(BG)Will you not accept instruction by listening to My words?” declares the Lord. ¹⁴ “The ^(BH)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 ^(BI)again and again, yet you have ^(BJ)not listened to Me. ¹⁵ Also I have sent to you all My ^(BK)servants the prophets, sending them again and again, saying: ‘^(BL)Turn now every person from his evil way and amend your deeds, and ^(BM)do not follow other gods to worship them. Then you will ^(BN)live in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers; but you have not ^(BO)inclined your ear or listened to Me. ¹⁶ Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have ^(BP)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, ^(BQ)I am bringing on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I ^(BR)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 ^(BS)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 ^(BT)will not lack a man to ^(BU)stand before Me ^[l]always.”’”

Jeremiah’s Scroll Read in the Temple

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

⁴ Then Jeremiah called ^(CE)Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a ^[n](CF)scroll ^[o]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 ^[p](CG)restricted; I cannot go into the house of the Lord. ⁶ So you go and ^(CH)read from the scroll, which you have ^(CI)written ^[q]at my dictation, the words of the Lord ^[r]to the people at the Lord’s house on a day of ^(CJ)fasting. And you shall also read them ^[s]to all the people of Judah who come from their cities. ^7 (CK)Perhaps their pleading will ^[t]come before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way; for ^(CL)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, ^(CM)reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

⁹ Now in the ^(CN)fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ^(CO)ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who ^(CP)came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a ^(CQ)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 ^(CR)chamber of ^(CS)Gemariah the son of Shaphan the ^(CT)scribe, in the upper courtyard, at the ^(CU)entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house.

¹¹ Now when ^(CV)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—^(CW)Elishama the scribe, ^(CX)Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, ^(CY)Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. ¹³ And Micaiah ^(CZ)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 ^(DA)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 ^(DB)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 ^(DC)read it to them. ¹⁶ When they had heard all the words, they turned in ^(DD)fear one to another. And they said to Baruch, “We will certainly ^(DE)report all these words to the king.” ¹⁷ Then they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us, please, ^(DF)how did you write all these words? Was it ^[u]at Jeremiah’s dictation?” ¹⁸ And Baruch said to them, “He ^(DG)dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book.” ¹⁹ Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, ^(DH)hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.”

The Scroll Is Burned

²⁰ So they came to the ^(DI)king in the courtyard, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of ^(DJ)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 ^(DK)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 ^(DL)winter house in the ^(DM)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 ^(DN)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 ^(DO)not tremble in fear, nor did they ^(DP)tear their garments. ²⁵ Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah ^(DQ)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 ^(DR)seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the ^(DS)Lord hid them.

The Scroll Is Replaced

²⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had ^(DT)burned the scroll and the words which ^(DU)Baruch had written ^[v]at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying, ²⁸ “^(DV)Take again another scroll and write on it all the previous words that were ^(DW)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 ^(DX)burned this scroll, saying, ‘^(DY)Why have you written on it ^[w]that the ^(DZ)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 ^(EA)no one to sit on the throne of David, and his ^(EB)dead body shall be thrown out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. ³¹ I will also ^(EC)punish him, his ^[x]descendants, and his servants for their wrongdoing, and I will ^(ED)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 ^(EE)wrote on it at the ^[y]dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many ^[z]similar words were added to them.

Pay Attention

2 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to ^[a]what we have heard, so that ^(A)we do not drift away from it. ² For if the word ^(B)spoken through ^(C)angels proved ^[b]unalterable, and ^(D)every violation and act of disobedience received a just ^[c](E)punishment, ^3 (F)how will we escape if we neglect so great a ^(G)salvation? ^[d]After it was at first ^(H)spoken through the Lord, it was ^(I)confirmed to us by those who heard, ⁴ God also testifying with them, both by ^(J)signs and wonders, and by ^(K)various ^[e]miracles and by ^[f](L)gifts of the Holy Spirit ^(M)according to His own will.

Earth Subject to Man

⁵ For He did not subject to angels ^[g](N)the world to come, about which we are speaking. ⁶ But someone has testified ^(O)somewhere, saying,

For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now ^(S)we do not yet see all things subjected to him.

Jesus Briefly Humbled

⁹ But we do see Him who was ^(T)made ^[j]for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, ^(U)because of His suffering death ^(V)crowned with glory and honor, so that ^(W)by the grace of God He might ^(X)taste death ^(Y)for everyone.

¹⁰ For ^(Z)it was fitting for Him, ^(AA)for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to ^(AB)perfect the ^[k](AC)originator of their salvation through sufferings. ¹¹ For both He who ^(AD)sanctifies and those who ^(AE)are ^[l]sanctified are all ^(AF)from one Father; for this reason He is not ashamed to call them ^(AG)brothers and sisters, ¹² saying,

¹³ And again,

And again,

¹⁴ Therefore, since the children share in ^[m](AK)flesh and blood, ^(AL)He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that ^(AM)through death He might destroy ^(AN)the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and free those who through ^(AO)fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. ¹⁶ For clearly He does not ^[n]give help to angels, but He gives help to the ^[o]descendants of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore, in all things He ^[p]had ^(AP)to be made like His brothers so that He might ^(AQ)become a merciful and faithful ^(AR)high priest in ^(AS)things pertaining to God, to ^(AT)make ^[q]propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For since He Himself was ^[r](AU)tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are ^[s]tempted.