Hananiah the False Prophet

28 In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of ^(A)Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of ^(B)Azzur, the prophet from ^(C)Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(D)I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. ^3 (E)Within ^(F)two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord's house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. ⁴ I will also bring back to this place ^(G)Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the Lord, ^(H)for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”

⁵ Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord, ⁶ and the prophet Jeremiah said, ^(I)“Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. ⁷ Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. ^8 (J)The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. ^9 (K)As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”

¹⁰ Then the prophet Hananiah took the ^(L)yoke-bars from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke them. ¹¹ And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, ^(M)“Thus says the Lord: ^(N)Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of ^(O)all the nations within two years.” But Jeremiah the prophet went his way.

¹² Sometime after the prophet ^(P)Hananiah had broken the yoke-bars from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³ “Go, tell Hananiah, ‘Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden bars, but you have made in their place bars of iron. ¹⁴ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations ^(Q)an iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^(R)and they shall serve him, ^(S)for I have given to him even the beasts of the field.’” ¹⁵ And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, ^(T)the Lord has not sent you, ^(U)and you have made this people trust in a lie. ¹⁶ Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, ^(V)because you have uttered rebellion against the Lord.’”

¹⁷ In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.

Jeremiah's Letter to the Exiles

29 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to ^(W)the surviving elders of the exiles, and to ^(X)the priests, ^(Y)the prophets, and ^(Z)all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ² This was after ^(AA)King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. ³ The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of ^(AB)Shaphan and Gemariah the son of ^(AC)Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: ⁴ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ^5 (AD)Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. ⁶ Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷ But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and ^(AE)pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. ⁸ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(AF)Do not let your prophets and ^(AG)your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,^{[a] 9} for ^(AH)it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; ^(AI)I did not send them, declares the Lord.

¹⁰ “For thus says the Lord: ^(AJ)When seventy years are completed for Babylon, ^(AK)I will visit you, ^(AL)and I will fulfill to you my promise ^(AM)and bring you back to this place. ^11 (AN)For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare^[b] and not for evil, ^(AO)to give you a future and a hope. ^12 (AP)Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, ^(AQ)and I will hear you. ^13 (AR)You will seek me and find me, when you seek me ^(AS)with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you, declares the Lord, ^(AT)and I will restore your fortunes and ^(AU)gather you from all the nations and all the places ^(AV)where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Teth

A Worker Approved by God

¹⁴ Remind them of these things, and ^(A)charge them before God^{[a] (B)}not to quarrel about words, ^(C)which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,^[b] a worker ^(D)who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ¹⁶ But ^(E)avoid ^(F)irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are ^(G)Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have swerved from the truth, ^(H)saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. ¹⁹ But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ^(I)“The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone ^(J)who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

²⁰ Now in ^(K)a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, ^(L)some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. ²¹ Therefore, ^(M)if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,^[c] he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ^(N)ready for every good work.

²² So ^(O)flee ^(P)youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with ^(Q)those who call on the Lord ^(R)from a pure heart. ²³ Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant ^(S)controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴ And ^(T)the Lord's servant^[d] must not be quarrelsome but ^(U)kind to everyone, ^(V)able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵ correcting his opponents ^(W)with gentleness. God ^(X)may perhaps grant them repentance ^(Y)leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from ^(Z)the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.