Jeremiah 22-24

New American Standard Bible 1995

Warning of Jerusalem’s Fall

22 Thus says the Lord, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there speak this word ² and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who ^(A)sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. ³ Thus says the Lord, “^(B)Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his ^(C)oppressor. Also ^(D)do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not ^(E)shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴ For if you men will indeed perform this thing, then ^(F)kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting ^[a]in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people. ^5 (G)But if you will not obey these words, I ^(H)swear by Myself,” declares the Lord, “that this house will become a desolation.”’” ⁶ For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:

⁸ “Many nations will pass by this city; and they will ^(N)say to one another, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this great city?’ ⁹ Then they will ^[b]answer, ‘Because they ^(O)forsook the covenant of the Lord their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’”

¹¹ For thus says the Lord in regard to ^[c](R)Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of Josiah his father, who went forth from this place, “He will never return there; ¹² but in the place where they led him captive, there he will ^(S)die and not see this land again.

Messages about the Kings

¹⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord in regard to ^(AD)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah,

²⁴ “As I live,” declares the Lord, “even though ^[h](AQ)Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a ^(AR)signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull ^[i]you ^[j]off; ²⁵ and I will ^(AS)give you over into the hand of those who are seeking your life, yes, into the hand of those whom you dread, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ I will ^(AT)hurl you and your ^(AU)mother who bore you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die. ²⁷ But as for the land to which they desire to return, they will not return to it.

³⁰ “Thus says the Lord,

The Coming Messiah: the Righteous Branch

23 “^(BC)Woe to the shepherds who are ^(BD)destroying and scattering the ^(BE)sheep of My pasture!” declares the Lord. ² Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are ^[k]tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to ^(BF)attend to you for the ^(BG)evil of your deeds,” declares the Lord. ³ “Then I Myself will ^(BH)gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. ⁴ I will also raise up ^(BI)shepherds over them and they will ^[l]tend them; and they will ^(BJ)not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, ^(BK)nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

⁷ “^(BS)Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ ^8 (BT)but, ‘As the Lord lives, who ^(BU)brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”

False Prophets Denounced

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

²⁵ “I have ^(DF)heard what the prophets have said who ^(DG)prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I had a ^(DH)dream, I had a dream!’ ²⁶ How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the ^(DI)deception of their own heart, ²⁷ who intend to ^(DJ)make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers ^(DK)forgot My name because of Baal? ²⁸ The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has ^(DL)My word speak My word in truth. ^(DM)What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the Lord. ²⁹ “Is not My word like ^(DN)fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a ^(DO)hammer which shatters a rock? ³⁰ Therefore behold, ^(DP)I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who steal My words from each other. ³¹ Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ ³² Behold, I am against those who have prophesied ^(DQ)false dreams,” declares the Lord, “and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and ^(DR)reckless boasting; yet ^(DS)I did not send them or command them, nor do they ^(DT)furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the Lord.

³³ “Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you saying, ‘What is the ^[q](DU)oracle of the Lord?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What ^[r]oracle?’ The Lord declares, ‘I will ^(DV)abandon you.’ ³⁴ Then as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘The ^(DW)oracle of the Lord,’ I will bring punishment upon that man and his household. ³⁵ Thus will each of you say to his neighbor and to his brother, ‘^(DX)What has the Lord answered?’ or, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁶ For you will no longer remember the oracle of the Lord, because every man’s own word will become the oracle, and you have ^(DY)perverted the words of the ^(DZ)living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. ³⁷ Thus you will say to that prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁸ For if you say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ surely thus says the Lord, ‘Because you said this word, “The oracle of the Lord!” I have also sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’”’ ³⁹ Therefore behold, ^(EA)I will surely forget you and cast you away from My presence, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers. ⁴⁰ I will put an everlasting ^(EB)reproach on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be forgotten.”

Baskets of Figs and the Returnees

24 After ^(EC)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me: behold, two ^(ED)baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord! ² One basket had very good figs, like ^(EE)first-ripe figs, and the other basket had ^(EF)very bad figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness. ³ Then the Lord said to me, “^(EG)What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad figs, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁵ “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard ^(EH)as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans. ⁶ For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will ^(EI)bring them again to this land; and I will ^(EJ)build them up and not overthrow them, and I will ^(EK)plant them and not pluck them up. ⁷ I will give them a ^(EL)heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be ^(EM)My people, and I will be their God, for they will ^(EN)return to Me with their whole heart.

⁸ ‘But like the ^(EO)bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness—indeed, thus says the Lord—so I will ^[s]abandon ^(EP)Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the ^(EQ)remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who dwell in the land of ^(ER)Egypt. ⁹ I will ^(ES)make them a terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a ^(ET)reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a ^(EU)curse in all places where I will scatter them. ¹⁰ I will send the ^(EV)sword, the famine and the pestilence upon them until they are destroyed from the land which I gave to them and their forefathers.’”