Jeremiah 21-29

New King James Version

Jerusalem’s Doom Is Sealed

21 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when ^(A)King Zedekiah sent to him ^(B)Pashhur the son of Melchiah, and ^(C)Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying, ²^(D)“Please inquire of the Lord for us, for ^[a]Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all His wonderful works, that the king may go away from us.”

³Then Jeremiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, ⁴‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the ^[b]Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and ^(E)I will assemble them in the midst of this city. ⁵I ^(F)Myself will fight against you with an ^(G)outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and fury and great wrath. ⁶I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence. ⁷And afterward,” says the Lord, ^(H)“I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence and the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword. ^(I)He shall not spare them, or have pity or mercy.” ’

⁸“Now you shall say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, ^(J)I set before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹He who ^(K)remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and ^[c]defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall ^(L)live, and his life shall be as a prize to him. ¹⁰For I have ^(M)set My face against this city for adversity and not for good,” says the Lord. ^(N)“It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall ^(O)burn it with fire.” ’

Message to the House of David

¹¹“And concerning the house of the king of Judah, say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, ¹²O house of David! Thus says the Lord:

^(P)“Execute^[d] judgment ^(Q)in the morning;
And deliver him who is plundered
Out of the hand of the oppressor,
Lest My fury go forth like fire
And burn so that no one can quench it,
Because of the evil of your doings.

¹³“Behold, ^(R)I am against you, O ^[e]inhabitant of the valley,
And rock of the plain,” says the Lord,
“Who say, ^(S)‘Who shall come down against us?
Or who shall enter our dwellings?’
¹⁴But I will punish you according to the ^(T)fruit of your ^[f]doings,” says the Lord;
“I will kindle a fire in its forest,
And ^(U)it shall devour all things around it.” ’ ”

Prophecies Against the Kings of Judah

22 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word, ²and say, ^(V)‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates! ³Thus says the Lord: ^(W)“Execute^[g] judgment and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the ^(X)fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴For if you indeed do this thing, ^(Y)then shall enter the gates of this house, riding on horses and in chariots, accompanied by servants and people, kings who sit on the throne of David. ⁵But if you will not ^[h]hear these words, ^(Z)I swear by Myself,” says the Lord, “that this house shall become a desolation.” ’ ”

⁶For thus says the Lord to the house of the king of Judah:

“You are ^(AA)Gilead to Me,
The head of Lebanon;
Yet I surely will make you a wilderness,
Cities which are not inhabited.
⁷I will prepare destroyers against you,
Everyone with his weapons;
They shall cut down ^(AB)your choice cedars
^(AC)And cast them into the fire.

⁸And many nations will pass by this city; and everyone will say to his neighbor, ^(AD)‘Why has the Lord done so to this great city?’ ⁹Then they will answer, ^(AE)‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshiped other gods and served them.’ ”

¹⁰Weep not for ^(AF)the dead, nor bemoan him;
Weep bitterly for him ^(AG)who goes away,
For he shall return no more,
Nor see his native country.

Message to the Sons of Josiah

¹¹For thus says the Lord concerning ^(AH)Shallum^[i] the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, ^(AI)who went from this place: “He shall not return here anymore, ¹²but he shall die in the place where they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.

¹³“Woe^(AJ) to him who builds his house by unrighteousness
And his ^[j]chambers by injustice,
^(AK)Who uses his neighbor’s service without wages
And gives him nothing for his work,
¹⁴Who says, ‘I will build myself a wide house with spacious ^[k]chambers,
And cut out windows for it,
Paneling it with cedar
And painting it with vermilion.’

¹⁵“Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink,
And do justice and righteousness?
Then ^(AL)it was well with him.
¹⁶He ^[l]judged the cause of the poor and needy;
Then it was well.
Was not this knowing Me?” says the Lord.
¹⁷“Yet^(AM) your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness,
For shedding innocent blood,
And practicing oppression and violence.”

¹⁸Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

^(AN)“They shall not lament for him,
Saying, ^(AO)‘Alas, my brother!’ or ‘Alas, my sister!’
They shall not lament for him,
Saying, ‘Alas, master!’ or ‘Alas, his glory!’
¹⁹^(AP)He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey,
Dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

²⁰“Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
And lift up your voice in Bashan;
Cry from Abarim,
For all your lovers are destroyed.
²¹I spoke to you in your prosperity,
But you said, ‘I will not hear.’
^(AQ)This has been your manner from your youth,
That you did not obey My voice.
²²The wind shall eat up all ^(AR)your ^[m]rulers,
And your lovers shall go into captivity;
Surely then you will be ashamed and humiliated
For all your wickedness.
²³O inhabitant of Lebanon,
Making your nest in the cedars,
How gracious will you be when pangs come upon you,
Like ^(AS)the pain of a woman in ^[n]labor?

Message to Coniah

²⁴“As I live,” says the Lord, ^(AT)“though ^[o]Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, ^(AU)were the ^[p]signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; ²⁵^(AV)and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear—the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the ^[q]Chaldeans. ²⁶^(AW)So I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born; and there you shall die. ²⁷But to the land to which they desire to return, there they shall not return.

²⁸“Is this man ^[r]Coniah a despised, broken idol—
^(AX)A vessel in which is no pleasure?
Why are they cast out, he and his descendants,
And cast into a land which they do not know?
²⁹^(AY)O earth, earth, earth,
Hear the word of the Lord!
³⁰Thus says the Lord:
‘Write this man down as ^(AZ)childless,
A man who shall not prosper in his days;
For ^(BA)none of his descendants shall prosper,
Sitting on the throne of David,
And ruling anymore in Judah.’ ”

The Branch of Righteousness

23 “Woe ^(BB)to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord. ²Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. ^(BC)Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord. ³“But ^(BD)I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. ⁴I will set up ^(BE)shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord.

⁵“Behold, ^(BF)the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and ^[s]prosper,
^(BG)And execute ^[t]judgment and righteousness in the ^[u]earth.
⁶^(BH)In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel ^(BI)will dwell safely;
Now ^(BJ)this is His name by which He will be called:

^[v]THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

⁷“Therefore, behold, ^(BK)the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ ⁸but, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country ^(BL)and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own ^(BM)land.”

False Prophets and Empty Oracles

⁹My heart within me is broken
Because of the prophets;
^(BN)All my bones shake.
I am like a drunken man,
And like a man whom wine has overcome,
Because of the Lord,
And because of His holy words.
¹⁰For ^(BO)the land is full of adulterers;
For ^(BP)because of a curse the land mourns.
^(BQ)The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course of life is evil,
And their might is not right.

¹¹“For ^(BR)both prophet and priest are profane;
Yes, ^(BS)in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the Lord.
¹²“Therefore^(BT) their way shall be to them
Like slippery ways;
In the darkness they shall be driven on
And fall in them;
For I ^(BU)will bring disaster on them,
The year of their punishment,” says the Lord.
¹³“And I have seen ^[w]folly in the prophets of Samaria:
^(BV)They prophesied by Baal
And ^(BW)caused My people Israel to err.
¹⁴Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem:
^(BX)They commit adultery and walk in lies;
They also ^(BY)strengthen the hands of evildoers,
So that no one turns back from his wickedness.
All of them are like ^(BZ)Sodom to Me,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.

¹⁵“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:

‘Behold, I will feed them with ^(CA)wormwood,
And make them drink the water of gall;
For from the prophets of Jerusalem
^[x]Profaneness has gone out into all the land.’ ”

¹⁶Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.
They make you worthless;
^(CB)They speak a vision of their own heart,
Not from the mouth of the Lord.
¹⁷They continually say to those who despise Me,
‘The Lord has said, ^(CC)“You shall have peace” ’;
And to everyone who ^(CD)walks according to the ^[y]dictates of his own heart, they say,
^(CE)‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ”

¹⁸For ^(CF)who has stood in the counsel of the Lord,
And has perceived and heard His word?
Who has marked His word and heard it?
¹⁹Behold, a ^(CG)whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury—
A violent whirlwind!
It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
²⁰The ^(CH)anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart.
^(CI)In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.

²¹“I^(CJ) have not sent these prophets, yet they ran.
I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
²²But if they had stood in My counsel,
And had caused My people to hear My words,
Then they would have ^(CK)turned them from their evil way
And from the evil of their doings.

²³“Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord,
“And not a God afar off?
²⁴Can anyone ^(CL)hide himself in secret places,
So I shall not see him?” says the Lord;
^(CM)“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.

²⁵“I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ ²⁶How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, ²⁷who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, ^(CN)as their fathers forgot My name for Baal.

²⁸“The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream;
And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully.
What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the Lord.
²⁹“Is not My word like a ^(CO)fire?” says the Lord,
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

³⁰“Therefore behold, ^(CP)I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor. ³¹Behold, I am ^(CQ)against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’ ³²Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their ^(CR)lies and by ^(CS)their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not ^(CT)profit this people at all,” says the Lord.

³³“So when these people or the prophet or the priest ask you, saying, ‘What is ^(CU)the ^[z]oracle of the Lord?’ you shall then say to them, ^[aa]‘What oracle?’ I will even forsake you,” says the Lord. ³⁴“And as for the prophet and the priest and the people who say, ‘The ^[ab]oracle of the Lord!’ I will even punish that man and his house. ³⁵Thus every one of you shall say to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁶And the ^[ac]oracle of the Lord you shall mention no more. For every man’s word will be his oracle, for you have ^(CV)perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. ³⁷Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁸But since you say, ‘The ^[ad]oracle of the Lord!’ therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Because you say this word, “The oracle of the Lord!” and I have sent to you, saying, “Do not say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ ” ³⁹therefore behold, I, even I, ^(CW)will utterly forget you and forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and will cast you out of My presence. ⁴⁰And I will bring ^(CX)an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual ^(CY)shame, which shall not be forgotten.’ ”

The Sign of Two Baskets of Figs

24 The ^(CZ)Lord showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar ^(DA)king of Babylon had carried away captive ^(DB)Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. ²One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so ^(DC)bad. ³Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad.”

⁴Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁵“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Like these good figs, so will I ^[ae]acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Chaldeans. ⁶For I will set My eyes on them for good, and ^(DD)I will bring them back to this land; ^(DE)I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. ⁷Then I will give them ^(DF)a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be ^(DG)My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me ^(DH)with their whole heart.

⁸‘And as the bad ^(DI)figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad’—surely thus says the Lord—‘so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the ^(DJ)residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and ^(DK)those who dwell in the land of Egypt. ⁹I will deliver them to ^(DL)trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm, ^(DM)to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them. ¹⁰And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are ^[af]consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’ ”

Seventy Years of Desolation

25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, ^(DN)in the fourth year of ^(DO)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), ²which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: ³^(DP)“From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, this is the twenty-third year in which the word of the Lord has come to me; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, ^(DQ)but you have not listened. ⁴And the Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets, ^(DR)rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear. ⁵They said, ^(DS)‘Repent now everyone of his evil way and his evil doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. ⁶Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.’ ⁷Yet you have not listened to Me,” says the Lord, “that you might ^(DT)provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.

⁸“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Because you have not heard My words, ⁹behold, I will send and take ^(DU)all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(DV)My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and ^(DW)make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. ¹⁰Moreover I will ^[ag]take from them the ^(DX)voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, ^(DY)the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. ¹¹And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy ^(DZ)years.

¹²‘Then it will come to pass, ^(EA)when ^[ah]seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the Lord; ^(EB)‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation. ¹³So I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations. ¹⁴^(EC)(For many nations ^(ED)and great kings shall ^(EE)be served by them also; ^(EF)and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands.)’ ”

Judgment on the Nations

¹⁵For thus says the Lord God of Israel to me: “Take this ^(EG)wine cup of ^[ai]fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. ¹⁶And ^(EH)they will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”

¹⁷Then I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations drink, to whom the Lord had sent me: ¹⁸Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its princes, to make them ^(EI)a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and ^(EJ)a curse, as it is this day; ¹⁹Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, and all his people; ²⁰all the mixed multitude, all the kings of ^(EK)the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the ^(EL)Philistines (namely, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and ^(EM)the remnant of Ashdod); ²¹^(EN)Edom, Moab, and the people of Ammon; ²²all the kings of ^(EO)Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands which are across the ^(EP)sea; ²³^(EQ)Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who are in the farthest corners; ²⁴all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the ^(ER)mixed multitude who dwell in the desert; ²⁵all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of ^(ES)Elam, and all the kings of the ^(ET)Medes; ²⁶^(EU)all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth. Also the king of ^[aj]Sheshach shall drink after them.

²⁷“Therefore you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(EV)“Drink, ^(EW)be drunk, and vomit! Fall and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.” ’ ²⁸And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “You shall certainly drink! ²⁹For behold, ^(EX)I begin to bring calamity on the city ^(EY)which is called by My name, and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished, for ^(EZ)I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth,” says the Lord of hosts.’

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

‘The Lord will ^(FA)roar from on high,
And utter His voice from ^(FB)His holy habitation;
He will roar mightily against ^(FC)His fold.
He will give ^(FD)a shout, as those who tread the grapes,
Against all the inhabitants of the earth.
³¹A noise will come to the ends of the earth—
For the Lord has ^(FE)a controversy with the nations;
^(FF)He will plead His case with all flesh.
He will give those who are wicked to the sword,’ says the Lord.”

³²Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“Behold, disaster shall go forth
From nation to nation,
And ^(FG)a great whirlwind shall be raised up
From the farthest parts of the earth.

³³^(FH)And at that day the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be ^(FI)lamented, ^(FJ)or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground.

³⁴“Wail,^(FK) shepherds, and cry!
Roll about in the ashes,
You leaders of the flock!
For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions are fulfilled;
You shall fall like a precious vessel.
³⁵And the shepherds will have no ^[ak]way to flee,
Nor the leaders of the flock to escape.
³⁶A voice of the cry of the shepherds,
And a wailing of the leaders to the flock will be heard.
For the Lord has plundered their pasture,
³⁷And the peaceful dwellings are cut down
Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
³⁸He has left His lair like the lion;
For their land is desolate
Because of the fierceness of the Oppressor,
And because of His fierce anger.”

Jeremiah Saved from Death^(FL)

26 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying, ²“Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand in ^(FM)the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord’s house, ^(FN)all the words that I command you to speak to them. ^(FO)Do not diminish a word. ³^(FP)Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may ^(FQ)relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.’ ⁴And you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(FR)“If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, ⁵to heed the words of My servants the prophets ^(FS)whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not heeded), ⁶then I will make this house like ^(FT)Shiloh, and will make this city ^(FU)a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”

⁷So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. ⁸Now it happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You will surely die! ⁹Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be ^(FV)desolate, without an inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

¹⁰When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat down in the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house. ¹¹And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and all the people, saying, ^[al]“This man deserves to ^(FW)die! For he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.”

¹²Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying: “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all the words that you have heard. ¹³Now therefore, ^(FX)amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; then the Lord will relent concerning the doom that He has pronounced against you. ¹⁴As for me, here ^(FY)I am, in your hand; do with me as seems good and ^[am]proper to you. ¹⁵But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

¹⁶So the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve to die. For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”

¹⁷^(FZ)Then certain of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying: ¹⁸^(GA)“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^(GB)“Zion shall be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem shall become ^(GC)heaps of ruins,
And the mountain of the ^[an]temple
Like the ^[ao]bare hills of the forest.” ’

¹⁹Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death? ^(GD)Did he not fear the Lord and ^(GE)seek the Lord’s favor? And the Lord ^(GF)relented concerning the doom which He had pronounced against them. ^(GG)But we are doing great evil against ourselves.”

²⁰Now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath Jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah. ²¹And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt. ²²Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor, and other men who went with him to Egypt. ²³And they brought Urijah from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the ^[ap]common people.

²⁴Nevertheless ^(GH)the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

Symbol of the Bonds and Yokes

27 In^[aq] the beginning of the reign of ^[ar]Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, ^(GI)king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ²“Thus says the Lord to me: ‘Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, ^(GJ)and put them on your neck, ³and send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. ⁴And command them to say to their masters, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel—thus you shall say to your masters: ⁵^(GK)‘I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and ^(GL)have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me. ⁶^(GM)And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(GN)My servant; and ^(GO)the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. ⁷^(GP)So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, ^(GQ)until the time of his land comes; ^(GR)and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. ⁸And it shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,’ says the Lord, ‘with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. ⁹Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your ^[as]dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon.” ¹⁰For they prophesy a ^(GS)lie to you, to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out, and you will perish. ¹¹But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let them remain in their own land,’ says the Lord, ‘and they shall till it and dwell in it.’ ” ’ ”

¹²I also spoke to ^(GT)Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live! ¹³^(GU)Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴Therefore ^(GV)do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy ^(GW)a lie to you; ¹⁵for I have ^(GX)not sent them,” says the Lord, “yet they prophesy a lie in My name, that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

¹⁶Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, “Behold, ^(GY)the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon”; for they prophesy a lie to you. ¹⁷Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city be laid waste? ¹⁸But if they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon.’

¹⁹“For thus says the Lord of hosts ^(GZ)concerning the pillars, concerning the Sea, concerning the carts, and concerning the remainder of the vessels that remain in this city, ²⁰which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away ^(HA)captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— ²¹yes, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the ^(HB)vessels that remain in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem: ²²‘They shall be ^(HC)carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I ^(HD)visit them,’ says the Lord. ‘Then ^(HE)I will bring them up and restore them to this place.’ ”

Hananiah’s Falsehood and Doom

28 And ^(HF)it happened in the same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the ^(HG)fourth year and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of ^(HH)Azur the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, ²“Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘I have broken ^(HI)the yoke of the king of Babylon. ³^(HJ)Within two full years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^(HK)took away from this place and carried to Babylon. ⁴And I will bring back to this place ^[at]Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah who went to Babylon,’ says the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ ”

⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of the Lord, ⁶and the prophet Jeremiah said, ^(HL)“Amen! The Lord do so; the Lord perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the Lord’s house and all who were carried away captive, from Babylon to this place. ⁷Nevertheless hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: ⁸The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms—of war and disaster and pestilence. ⁹As for ^(HM)the prophet who prophesies of ^(HN)peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom the Lord has truly sent.”

¹⁰Then Hananiah the prophet took the ^(HO)yoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it. ¹¹And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^(HP)from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.’ ” And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

¹²Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ¹³“Go and tell Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron.” ¹⁴For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(HQ)“I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. ^(HR)I have given him the beasts of the field also.” ’ ”

¹⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, but ^(HS)you make this people trust in a ^(HT)lie. ¹⁶Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall ^(HU)die, because you have taught ^(HV)rebellion against the Lord.’ ”

¹⁷So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Captives

29 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were ^(HW)carried away captive—to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²(This happened after ^(HX)Jeconiah^[au] the king, the ^(HY)queen mother, the ^[av]eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) ³The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of ^(HZ)Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,

⁴Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:

⁵Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. ⁶Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. ⁷And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, ^(IA)and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace. ⁸For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst ^(IB)deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. ⁹For they prophesy ^(IC)falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord.

¹⁰For thus says the Lord: After ^(ID)seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to ^(IE)return to this place. ¹¹For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹²Then you will ^(IF)call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will ^(IG)listen to you. ¹³And ^(IH)you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me ^(II)with all your heart. ¹⁴^(IJ)I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; ^(IK)I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

¹⁵Because you have said, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon”— ¹⁶^(IL)therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity— ¹⁷thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like ^(IM)rotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. ¹⁸And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I ^(IN)will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth—to be ^(IO)a curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, ¹⁹because they have not heeded My words, says the Lord, which ^(IP)I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; neither would you heed, says the Lord. ²⁰Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²¹Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a ^(IQ)lie to you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes. ²²^(IR)And because of them a curse shall be taken up by all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, ^(IS)whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire”; ²³because ^(IT)they have done disgraceful things in Israel, have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them. Indeed I ^(IU)know, and am a witness, says the Lord.

²⁴You shall also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, ²⁵Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, ^(IV)to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶“The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there should be ^(IW)officers in the house of the Lord over every man who is ^(IX)demented and considers himself a prophet, that you should ^(IY)put him in prison and in the stocks. ²⁷Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who makes himself a prophet to you? ²⁸For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘This captivity is long; build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’ ”

²⁹Now Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: ³¹Send to all those in captivity, saying, Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, ^(IZ)and I have not sent him, and he has caused you to trust in a ^(JA)lie— ³²therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his ^[aw]family: he shall not have anyone to dwell among this people, nor shall he see the good that I will do for My people, says the Lord, ^(JB)because he has taught rebellion against the Lord.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 21:2 Heb. Nebuchadrezzar, and so elsewhere in the book
Jeremiah 21:4 Or Babylonians, and so elsewhere in the book
Jeremiah 21:9 Lit. falls away to
Jeremiah 21:12 Dispense justice
Jeremiah 21:13 dweller
Jeremiah 21:14 deeds
Jeremiah 22:3 Dispense justice
Jeremiah 22:5 Obey
Jeremiah 22:11 Or Jehoahaz
Jeremiah 22:13 Lit. roof chambers, upper chambers
Jeremiah 22:14 Lit. roof chambers, upper chambers
Jeremiah 22:16 Defended
Jeremiah 22:22 Lit. shepherds
Jeremiah 22:23 childbirth
Jeremiah 22:24 Or Jeconiah or Jehoiachin
Jeremiah 22:24 signet ring
Jeremiah 22:25 Or Babylonians
Jeremiah 22:28 See note at v. 24
Jeremiah 23:5 act wisely
Jeremiah 23:5 justice
Jeremiah 23:5 land
Jeremiah 23:6 Heb. YHWH Tsidkenu
Jeremiah 23:13 Lit. distastefulness
Jeremiah 23:15 Or Pollution
Jeremiah 23:17 stubbornness or imagination
Jeremiah 23:33 burden, prophecy
Jeremiah 23:33 LXX, Tg., Vg. ‘You are the burden.’
Jeremiah 23:34 burden, prophecy
Jeremiah 23:36 burden, prophecy
Jeremiah 23:38 burden, prophecy
Jeremiah 24:5 regard
Jeremiah 24:10 destroyed
Jeremiah 25:10 Lit. cause to perish from them
Jeremiah 25:12 Beginning circa 605 b.c. (2 Kin. 24:1) and ending circa 536 b.c. (Ezra 1:1)
Jeremiah 25:15 wrath
Jeremiah 25:26 A code word for Babylon, Jer. 51:41
Jeremiah 25:35 Or refuge
Jeremiah 26:11 Lit. A judgment of death to this man
Jeremiah 26:14 right
Jeremiah 26:18 Lit. house
Jeremiah 26:18 Lit. high places
Jeremiah 26:23 Lit. sons of the people
Jeremiah 27:1 LXX omits v. 1.
Jeremiah 27:1 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; some Heb. mss., Arab., Syr. Zedekiah (cf. 27:3, 12; 28:1)
Jeremiah 27:9 Lit. dreams
Jeremiah 28:4 Jehoiachin, 2 Kin. 24:12
Jeremiah 29:2 Jehoiachin, 2 Kin. 24:12; 2 Chr. 36:10
Jeremiah 29:2 Or officers
Jeremiah 29:32 descendants, lit. seed