Jeremiah 22-41

New King James Version

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, ² and say, ^(A)‘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! ³ Thus says the Lord: ^(B)“Execute^[a] 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 ^(C)fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴ For if you indeed do this thing, ^(D)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. ⁵ But if you will not ^[b]hear these words, ^(E)I swear by Myself,” says the Lord, “that this house shall become a desolation.” ’ ”

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

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

Message to the Sons of Josiah

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

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

Message to Coniah

²⁴ “As I live,” says the Lord, ^(Y)“though ^[i]Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, ^(Z)were the ^[j]signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; ^25 (AA)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 ^[k]Chaldeans. ^26 (AB)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. ²⁷ But to the land to which they desire to return, there they shall not return.

The Branch of Righteousness

23 “Woe ^(AG)to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord. ² Therefore 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. ^(AH)Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord. ³ “But ^(AI)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. ⁴ I will set up ^(AJ)shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord.

^[p]THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

⁷ “Therefore, behold, ^(AP)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,’ ⁸ but, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country ^(AQ)and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own ^(AR)land.”

False Prophets and Empty Oracles

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

¹⁶ Thus says the Lord of hosts:

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

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

³³ “So when these people or the prophet or the priest ask you, saying, ‘What is ^(BZ)the ^[t]oracle of the Lord?’ you shall then say to them, ^[u]‘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 ^[v]oracle of the Lord!’ I will even punish that man and his house. ³⁵ Thus 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?’ ³⁶ And the ^[w]oracle of the Lord you shall mention no more. For every man’s word will be his oracle, for you have ^(CA)perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. ³⁷ Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁸ But since you say, ‘The ^[x]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!’ ” ³⁹ therefore behold, I, even I, ^(CB)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. ⁴⁰ And I will bring ^(CC)an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual ^(CD)shame, which shall not be forgotten.’ ”

The Sign of Two Baskets of Figs

24 The ^(CE)Lord showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar ^(CF)king of Babylon had carried away captive ^(CG)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. ² One 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 ^(CH)bad. ³ Then 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.”

⁴ Again 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 ^[y]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. ⁶ For I will set My eyes on them for good, and ^(CI)I will bring them back to this land; ^(CJ)I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. ⁷ Then I will give them ^(CK)a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be ^(CL)My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me ^(CM)with their whole heart.

⁸ ‘And as the bad ^(CN)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 ^(CO)residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and ^(CP)those who dwell in the land of Egypt. ⁹ I will deliver them to ^(CQ)trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm, ^(CR)to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them. ¹⁰ And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are ^[z]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, ^(CS)in the fourth year of ^(CT)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), ² which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: ^3 (CU)“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, ^(CV)but you have not listened. ⁴ And the Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets, ^(CW)rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear. ⁵ They said, ^(CX)‘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. ⁶ Do 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.’ ⁷ Yet you have not listened to Me,” says the Lord, “that you might ^(CY)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, ⁹ behold, I will send and take ^(CZ)all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(DA)My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and ^(DB)make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. ¹⁰ Moreover I will ^[aa]take from them the ^(DC)voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, ^(DD)the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. ¹¹ And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy ^(DE)years.

¹² ‘Then it will come to pass, ^(DF)when ^[ab]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; ^(DG)‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation. ¹³ So 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 (DH)(For many nations ^(DI)and great kings shall ^(DJ)be served by them also; ^(DK)and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands.)’ ”

Judgment on the Nations

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

¹⁷ Then I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations drink, to whom the Lord had sent me: ¹⁸ Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its princes, to make them ^(DN)a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and ^(DO)a curse, as it is this day; ¹⁹ Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, and all his people; ²⁰ all the mixed multitude, all the kings of ^(DP)the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the ^(DQ)Philistines (namely, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and ^(DR)the remnant of Ashdod); ^21 (DS)Edom, Moab, and the people of Ammon; ²² all the kings of ^(DT)Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands which are across the ^(DU)sea; ^23 (DV)Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who are in the farthest corners; ²⁴ all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the ^(DW)mixed multitude who dwell in the desert; ²⁵ all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of ^(DX)Elam, and all the kings of the ^(DY)Medes; ^26 (DZ)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 ^[ad]Sheshach shall drink after them.

²⁷ “Therefore you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(EA)“Drink, ^(EB)be drunk, and vomit! Fall and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.” ’ ²⁸ And 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! ²⁹ For behold, ^(EC)I begin to bring calamity on the city ^(ED)which is called by My name, and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished, for ^(EE)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:

³² Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^33 (EM)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 ^(EN)lamented, ^(EO)or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground.

Jeremiah Saved from Death^(EQ)

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 ^(ER)the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord’s house, ^(ES)all the words that I command you to speak to them. ^(ET)Do not diminish a word. ^3 (EU)Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may ^(EV)relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.’ ⁴ And you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(EW)“If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, ⁵ to heed the words of My servants the prophets ^(EX)whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not heeded), ⁶ then I will make this house like ^(EY)Shiloh, and will make this city ^(EZ)a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”

⁷ So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. ⁸ Now 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! ⁹ Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be ^(FA)desolate, without an inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

¹⁰ When 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. ¹¹ And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and all the people, saying, ^[af]“This man deserves to ^(FB)die! For he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.”

¹² Then 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. ¹³ Now therefore, ^(FC)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. ¹⁴ As for me, here ^(FD)I am, in your hand; do with me as seems good and ^[ag]proper to you. ¹⁵ But 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.”

¹⁶ So 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 (FE)Then certain of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying: ^18 (FF)“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:

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

²⁰ Now 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. ²¹ And 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. ²² Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor, and other men who went with him to Egypt. ²³ And 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 ^[aj]common people.

²⁴ Nevertheless ^(FM)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^[ak] the beginning of the reign of ^[al]Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, ^(FN)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, ^(FO)and put them on your neck, ³ and 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. ⁴ And 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 (FP)‘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 ^(FQ)have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me. ^6 (FR)And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(FS)My servant; and ^(FT)the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. ^7 (FU)So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, ^(FV)until the time of his land comes; ^(FW)and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. ⁸ And 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. ⁹ Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your ^[am]dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon.” ¹⁰ For they prophesy a ^(FX)lie to you, to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out, and you will perish. ¹¹ But 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.’ ” ’ ”

¹² I also spoke to ^(FY)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 (FZ)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? ¹⁴ Therefore ^(GA)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 ^(GB)a lie to you; ¹⁵ for I have ^(GC)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.”

¹⁶ Also 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, ^(GD)the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon”; for they prophesy a lie to you. ¹⁷ Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city be laid waste? ¹⁸ But 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 ^(GE)concerning the pillars, concerning the Sea, concerning the carts, and concerning the remainder of the vessels that remain in this city, ²⁰ which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away ^(GF)captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— ²¹ yes, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the ^(GG)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 ^(GH)carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I ^(GI)visit them,’ says the Lord. ‘Then ^(GJ)I will bring them up and restore them to this place.’ ”

Hananiah’s Falsehood and Doom

28 And ^(GK)it happened in the same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the ^(GL)fourth year and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of ^(GM)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 ^(GN)the yoke of the king of Babylon. ^3 (GO)Within two full years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^(GP)took away from this place and carried to Babylon. ⁴ And I will bring back to this place ^[an]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.’ ”

⁵ Then 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, ⁶ and the prophet Jeremiah said, ^(GQ)“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. ⁷ Nevertheless hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: ⁸ The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms—of war and disaster and pestilence. ⁹ As for ^(GR)the prophet who prophesies of ^(GS)peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom the Lord has truly sent.”

¹⁰ Then Hananiah the prophet took the ^(GT)yoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it. ¹¹ And 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 ^(GU)from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.’ ” And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

¹² Now 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.” ¹⁴ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(GV)“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. ^(GW)I have given him the beasts of the field also.” ’ ”

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

¹⁷ So 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 ^(HB)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 ^(HC)Jeconiah^[ao] the king, the ^(HD)queen mother, the ^[ap]eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) ³ The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of ^(HE)Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,

Restoration of Israel and Judah

30 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ² “Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying: ‘Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you. ³ For behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that ^(IH)I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ^(II)‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’ ”

⁴ Now these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah.

⁵ “For thus says the Lord:

¹² “For thus says the Lord:

¹⁸ “Thus says the Lord:

The Remnant of Israel Saved

31 “At ^(JP)the same time,” says the Lord, ^(JQ)“I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”

² Thus says the Lord:

⁷ For thus says the Lord:

Mercy on Ephraim

¹⁵ Thus says the Lord:

¹⁶ Thus says the Lord:

Future Prosperity of Judah

²³ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: ^(LB)‘The Lord bless you, O home of justice, and ^(LC)mountain of holiness!’ ²⁴ And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and ^(LD)in all its cities together, farmers and those going out with flocks. ²⁵ For I have ^[bc]satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”

²⁶ After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was ^(LE)sweet to me.

²⁷ “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that ^(LF)I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. ²⁸ And it shall come to pass, that as I have ^(LG)watched over them ^(LH)to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them ^(LI)to build and to plant, says the Lord. ^29 (LJ)In those days they shall say no more:

^30 (LK)But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

A New Covenant

³¹ “Behold, the ^(LL)days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— ³² not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that ^(LM)I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, ^[bd]though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. ^33 (LN)But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: ^(LO)I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their ^[be]hearts; ^(LP)and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ³⁴ No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for ^(LQ)they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For ^(LR)I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

³⁷ Thus says the Lord:

³⁸ “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that the city shall be built for the Lord ^(LY)from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. ^39 (LZ)The surveyor’s line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath. ⁴⁰ And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, ^(MA)to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, ^(MB)shall be holy to the Lord. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.”

Jeremiah Buys a Field

32 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord ^(MC)in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. ² For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up ^(MD)in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house. ³ For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you ^(ME)prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(MF)“Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; ⁴ and Zedekiah king of Judah ^(MG)shall not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him ^[bf]face to face, and see him ^(MH)eye to eye; ⁵ then he shall ^(MI)lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall be ^(MJ)until I visit him,” says the Lord; ^(MK)“though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed” ’?”

⁶ And Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁷ ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, “Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the ^(ML)right of redemption is yours to buy it.” ’ ⁸ Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. ⁹ So I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle who was in Anathoth, and ^(MM)weighed out to him the money—seventeen shekels of silver. ¹⁰ And I signed the ^[bg]deed and sealed it, took witnesses, and weighed the money on the scales. ¹¹ So I took the purchase deed, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open; ¹² and I gave the purchase deed to ^(MN)Baruch the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the ^(MO)witnesses who signed the purchase deed, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the prison.

¹³ “Then I charged ^(MP)Baruch before them, saying, ¹⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Take these deeds, both this purchase deed which is sealed and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days.” ¹⁵ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Houses and fields and vineyards shall be ^(MQ)possessed again in this land.” ’

Jeremiah Prays for Understanding

¹⁶ “Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: ¹⁷ ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, ^(MR)You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. ^(MS)There is nothing too ^[bh]hard for You. ¹⁸ You show ^(MT)lovingkindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them—the Great, ^(MU)the Mighty God, whose name is ^(MV)the Lord of hosts. ¹⁹ You are ^(MW)great in counsel and mighty in ^[bi]work, for Your ^(MX)eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, ^(MY)to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. ²⁰ You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, to this day, and in Israel and among other men; and You have made Yourself ^(MZ)a name, as it is this day. ²¹ You ^(NA)have brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror; ²² You have given them this land, of which You swore to their fathers to give them—^(NB)“a land flowing with milk and honey.” ²³ And they came in and took possession of it, but ^(NC)they have not obeyed Your voice or walked in Your law. They have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have caused all this calamity to come upon them.

²⁴ ‘Look, the siege mounds! They have come to the city to take it; and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of ^(ND)the sword and famine and pestilence. What You have spoken has happened; there You see it! ²⁵ And You have said to me, O Lord God, “Buy the field for money, and take witnesses”!—yet the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ ”

God’s Assurance of the People’s Return

²⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁷ “Behold, I am the Lord, the ^(NE)God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? ²⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. ²⁹ And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall come and ^(NF)set fire to this city and burn it, with the houses ^(NG)on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger; ³⁰ because the children of Israel and the children of Judah ^(NH)have done only evil before Me from their youth. For the children of Israel have provoked Me only to anger with the work of their hands,’ says the Lord. ³¹ ‘For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My fury from the day that they built it, even to this day; ^(NI)so I will remove it from before My face ³² because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger—^(NJ)they, their kings, their princes, their priests, ^(NK)their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³³ And they have turned to Me the ^(NL)back, and not the face; though I taught them, ^(NM)rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. ³⁴ But they ^(NN)set their abominations in ^[bj]the house which is called by My name, to defile it. ³⁵ And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to ^(NO)cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to ^(NP)Molech, ^(NQ)which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.’

³⁶ “Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: ³⁷ Behold, I will ^(NR)gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them ^(NS)to dwell safely. ³⁸ They shall be ^(NT)My people, and I will be their God; ³⁹ then I will ^(NU)give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. ⁴⁰ And ^(NV)I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but ^(NW)I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. ⁴¹ Yes, ^(NX)I will rejoice over them to do them good, and ^(NY)I will ^[bk]assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.’

⁴² “For thus says the Lord: ^(NZ)‘Just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them. ⁴³ And fields will be bought in this land ^(OA)of which you say, “It is desolate, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” ⁴⁴ Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in ^(OB)the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the ^[bl]lowland, and in the cities of the ^[bm]South; for ^(OC)I will cause their captives to return,’ says the Lord.”

Excellence of the Restored Nation

33 Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still ^(OD)shut up in the court of the prison, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord ^(OE)who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it ^(OF)(the^[bn] Lord is His name): ^3 (OG)‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and ^[bo]mighty things, which you do not know.’

⁴ “For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been pulled down to fortify against ^(OH)the siege mounds and the sword: ⁵ ‘They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to ^(OI)fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in My anger and My fury, all for whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city. ⁶ Behold, ^(OJ)I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. ⁷ And ^(OK)I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places ^(OL)as at the first. ⁸ I will ^(OM)cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. ^9 (ON)Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall ^(OO)fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.’

¹⁰ “Thus says the Lord: ‘Again there shall be heard in this place—^(OP)of which you say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast”—in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, ¹¹ the ^(OQ)voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say:

and of those who will bring ^(OS)the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the Lord.

¹² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(OT)‘In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. ^13 (OU)In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again ^(OV)pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the Lord.

^14 (OW)‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that ^(OX)I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:

^[bp]THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’

¹⁷ “For thus says the Lord: ‘David shall never ^(OZ)lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; ¹⁸ nor shall the ^(PA)priests, the Levites, lack a man to ^(PB)offer burnt offerings before Me, to ^[bq]kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’ ”

The Permanence of God’s Covenant

¹⁹ And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁰ “Thus says the Lord: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, ²¹ then ^(PC)My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. ²² As ^(PD)the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I ^(PE)multiply the descendants of David My servant and the ^(PF)Levites who minister to Me.’ ”

²³ Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁴ “Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the Lord has chosen, He has also cast them off’? Thus they have ^(PG)despised My people, as if they should no more be a nation before them.

²⁵ “Thus says the Lord: ‘If ^(PH)My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not ^(PI)appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, ^26 (PJ)then I will ^(PK)cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.’ ”

Zedekiah Warned by God

34 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, ^(PL)when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, ^(PM)all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem and all its cities, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Go and ^(PN)speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, ^(PO)I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. ³ And ^(PP)you shall not escape from his hand, but shall surely be taken and delivered into his hand; your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, he shall speak with you ^(PQ)face^[br] to face, and you shall go to Babylon.’ ” ’ ⁴ Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the Lord concerning you: ‘You shall not die by the sword. ⁵ You shall die in peace; as in ^(PR)the ceremonies of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, ^(PS)so they shall burn incense for you and ^(PT)lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!” For I have pronounced the word, says the Lord.’ ”

⁶ Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, ⁷ when the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and Azekah; for only ^(PU)these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah.

Treacherous Treatment of Slaves

⁸ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem to proclaim ^(PV)liberty to them: ^9 (PW)that every man should set free his male and female slave—a Hebrew man or woman—^(PX)that no one should keep a Jewish brother in bondage. ¹⁰ Now when all the princes and all the people, who had entered into the covenant, heard that everyone should set free his male and female slaves, that no one should keep them in bondage anymore, they obeyed and let them go. ¹¹ But afterward they changed their minds and made the male and female slaves return, whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male and female slaves.

¹² Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ¹³ “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I made a ^(PY)covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, ¹⁴ “At the end of ^(PZ)seven years let every man set free his Hebrew brother, who ^[bs]has been sold to him; and when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.” But your fathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear. ¹⁵ Then you ^[bt]recently turned and did what was right in My sight—every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you ^(QA)made a covenant before Me ^(QB)in the house which is called by My name. ¹⁶ Then you turned around and ^(QC)profaned My name, and every one of you brought back his male and female slaves, whom you had set at liberty, at their pleasure, and brought them back into subjection, to be your male and female slaves.’

¹⁷ “Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor. ^(QD)Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,’ says the Lord—^(QE)‘to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to ^(QF)trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸ And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when ^(QG)they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it— ¹⁹ the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the ^[bu]eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— ²⁰ I will ^(QH)give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their ^(QI)dead bodies shall be for meat for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth. ²¹ And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army ^(QJ)which has gone back from you. ^22 (QK)Behold, I will command,’ says the Lord, ‘and cause them to return to this city. They will fight against it ^(QL)and take it and burn it with fire; and ^(QM)I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’ ”

The Obedient Rechabites

35 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ² “Go to the house of the ^(QN)Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of ^(QO)the chambers, and give them wine to drink.”

³ Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house 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, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, ^(QP)the keeper of the ^[bv]door. ⁵ Then I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine.”

⁶ But they said, “We will drink no wine, for ^(QQ)Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink ^(QR)no wine, you nor your sons, forever. ⁷ You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, ^(QS)that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.’ ⁸ Thus we have ^(QT)obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, ⁹ nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; nor do we have vineyard, field, or seed. ¹⁰ But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ But it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, ‘Come, let us ^(QU)go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and for fear of the army of the Syrians.’ So we dwell at Jerusalem.”

¹² Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not ^(QV)receive instruction to ^[bw]obey My words?” says the Lord. ¹⁴ “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; for to this day they drink none, and obey their father’s commandment. ^(QW)But although I have spoken to you, ^(QX)rising early and speaking, you did not ^[bx]obey Me. ¹⁵ I have also sent to you all My ^(QY)servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ^(QZ)‘Turn now everyone from his evil way, amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them; then you will ^(RA)dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me. ¹⁶ Surely the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their ^(RB)father, which he commanded them, but this people has not obeyed Me.” ’

¹⁷ “Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the doom that I have pronounced against them; ^(RC)because I have spoken to them but they have not heard, and I have called to them but they have not answered.’ ”

¹⁸ And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, ¹⁹ therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to ^(RD)stand before Me forever.” ’ ”

The Scroll Read in the Temple

36 Now it came to pass in the ^(RE)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: ² “Take a ^(RF)scroll of a book and ^(RG)write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against ^(RH)all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of ^(RI)Josiah even to this day. ³ It ^(RJ)may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to bring upon them, that everyone may ^(RK)turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah ^(RL)called Baruch the son of Neriah; and ^(RM)Baruch wrote on a scroll of a book, ^[by]at the instruction of Jeremiah, all the words of the Lord which He had spoken to him. ⁵ And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am confined, I cannot go into the house of the Lord. ⁶ You go, therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written ^[bz]at my instruction, the words of the Lord, in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house on ^(RN)the day of fasting. And you shall also read them in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities. ⁷ It may be that they will present their supplication before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” ⁸ And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

⁹ Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court at the ^(RO)entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house, in the ^[ca]hearing of all the people.

The Scroll Read in the Palace

¹¹ When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the book, ¹² he then went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber; and there all the princes were sitting—^(RP)Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, ^(RQ)Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. ¹³ Then Michaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the hearing of the people. ¹⁴ Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. ¹⁵ And they said to him, “Sit down now, and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.

¹⁶ Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, that they looked in fear from one to another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.” ¹⁷ And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words—^[cb]at his instruction?”

¹⁸ So Baruch answered them, “He proclaimed with his mouth all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”

¹⁹ Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no one know where you are.”

The King Destroys Jeremiah’s Scroll

²⁰ And they went to the king, into the court; but they stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the hearing of the king. ²¹ So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king. ²² Now the king was sitting in ^(RR)the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning on the hearth before him. ²³ And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. ²⁴ Yet they were ^(RS)not afraid, nor did they ^(RT)tear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words. ²⁵ Nevertheless Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah implored the king not to burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them. ²⁶ And the king commanded Jerahmeel ^[cc]the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.

Jeremiah Rewrites the Scroll

²⁷ Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baruch had written ^[cd]at the instruction of Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: ²⁸ “Take yet another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. ²⁹ And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘Thus says the Lord: “You have burned this scroll, saying, ^(RU)‘Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and cause man and beast to ^(RV)cease from here?’ ” ³⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: ^(RW)“He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be ^(RX)cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. ³¹ I will punish him, his ^[ce]family, and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the doom that I have pronounced against them; but they did not heed.” ’ ”

³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it ^[cf]at the instruction of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And besides, there were added to them many similar words.

Zedekiah’s Vain Hope^(RY)

37 Now King ^(RZ)Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. ^2 (SA)But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land gave heed to the words of the Lord which He spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.

³ And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and ^(SB)Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ^(SC)“Pray now to the Lord our God for us.” ⁴ Now Jeremiah was coming and going among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison. ⁵ Then ^(SD)Pharaoh’s army came up from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they departed from Jerusalem.

⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ⁷ “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Thus you shall say to the king of Judah, ^(SE)who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, Pharaoh’s army which has come up to help you will return to Egypt, to their own land. ^8 (SF)And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city, and take it and burn it with fire.” ’ ⁹ Thus says the Lord: ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely depart from us,” for they will not depart. ^10 (SG)For though you had defeated the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained only wounded men among them, they would rise up, every man in his tent, and burn the city with fire.’ ”

Jeremiah Imprisoned

¹¹ And it happened, when the army of the Chaldeans left the siege of Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² that Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin to claim his property there among the people. ¹³ And when he was in the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there whose name was Irijah the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are defecting to the Chaldeans!”

¹⁴ Then Jeremiah said, ^[cg]“False! I am not defecting to the Chaldeans.” But he did not listen to him.

So Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the princes. ¹⁵ Therefore the princes were angry with Jeremiah, and they struck him ^(SH)and put him in prison in the ^(SI)house of Jonathan the scribe. For they had made that the prison.

¹⁶ When Jeremiah entered ^(SJ)the dungeon and the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days, ¹⁷ then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out. The king asked him secretly in his house, and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?”

And Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, “You shall be ^(SK)delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon!”

¹⁸ Moreover Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What offense have I committed against you, against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹ Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land’? ²⁰ Therefore please hear now, O my lord the king. Please, let my petition be accepted before you, and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.”

²¹ Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah ^(SL)to the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread from the bakers’ street, ^(SM)until all the bread in the city was gone. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

Jeremiah in the Dungeon

38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, ^(SN)Jucal^[ch] the son of Shelemiah, and ^(SO)Pashhur the son of Malchiah ^(SP)heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord: ^(SQ)‘He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans shall live; his life shall be as a prize to him, and he shall live.’ ³ Thus says the Lord: ^(SR)‘This city shall surely be ^(SS)given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.’ ”

⁴ Therefore the princes said to the king, “Please, ^(ST)let this man be put to death, for thus he ^[ci]weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the ^[cj]welfare of this people, but their harm.”

⁵ Then Zedekiah the king said, “Look, he is in your hand. For the king can do nothing against you.” ^6 (SU)So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah ^[ck]the king’s son, which was in the court of the prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire.

^7 (SV)Now Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the ^[cl]eunuchs, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon. When the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, ⁸ Ebed-Melech went out of the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying: ⁹ “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon, and he is likely to die from hunger in the place where he is. For there is ^(SW)no more bread in the city.” ¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies.” ¹¹ So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah. ¹² Then Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Please put these old clothes and rags under your armpits, under the ropes.” And Jeremiah did so. ¹³ So they pulled Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the dungeon. And Jeremiah remained ^(SX)in the court of the prison.

Zedekiah’s Fears and Jeremiah’s Advice

¹⁴ Then Zedekiah the king sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance of the house of the Lord. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ^(SY)ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”

¹⁵ Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”

¹⁶ So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the Lord lives, ^(SZ)who made our very souls, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

¹⁷ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you surely ^(TA)surrender^{[cm] (TB)}to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. ¹⁸ But if you do not ^[cn]surrender to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans; they shall burn it with fire, and ^(TC)you shall not escape from their hand.’ ”

¹⁹ And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have ^(TD)defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they ^(TE)abuse me.”

²⁰ But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of the Lord which I speak to you. So it shall be ^(TF)well with you, and your soul shall live. ²¹ But if you refuse to ^[co]surrender, this is the word that the Lord has shown me: ²² ‘Now behold, all the ^(TG)women who are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be surrendered to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say:

²³ ‘So they shall surrender all your wives and ^(TH)children to the Chaldeans. ^(TI)You shall not escape from their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. And you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.’ ”

²⁴ Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. ²⁵ But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Declare to us now what you have said to the king, and also what the king said to you; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death,’ ²⁶ then you shall say to them, ^(TJ)‘I presented my request before the king, that he would not make me return ^(TK)to Jonathan’s house to die there.’ ”

²⁷ Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been heard. ²⁸ Now ^(TL)Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken. And he was there when Jerusalem was taken.

The Fall of Jerusalem^(TM)

39 In the ^(TN)ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it. ² In the ^(TO)eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the ^[cr]city was penetrated.

^3 (TP)Then all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, ^[cs]Rabsaris, Nergal-Sarezer, ^[ct]Rabmag, with the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon.

^4 (TQ)So it was, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, that they fled and went out of the city by night, by way of the king’s garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went out by way of the ^[cu]plain. ⁵ But the Chaldean army pursued them and ^(TR)overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And when they had captured him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to ^(TS)Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on him. ⁶ Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his ^(TT)eyes in Riblah; the king of Babylon also killed all the ^(TU)nobles of Judah. ⁷ Moreover ^(TV)he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with bronze ^[cv]fetters to carry him off to Babylon. ^8 (TW)And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the houses of the people with ^(TX)fire, and broke down the ^(TY)walls of Jerusalem. ^9 (TZ)Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people who remained in the city and those who ^(UA)defected to him, with the rest of the people who remained. ¹⁰ But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah the ^(UB)poor people, who had nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields ^[cw]at the same time.

Jeremiah Goes Free

¹¹ Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying, ¹² “Take him and look after him, and do him no ^(UC)harm; but do to him just as he says to you.” ¹³ So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent Nebushasban, Rabsaris, Nergal-Sharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon’s chief officers; ¹⁴ then they sent someone ^(UD)to take Jeremiah from the court of the prison, and committed him ^(UE)to Gedaliah the son of ^(UF)Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should take him home. So he dwelt among the people.

¹⁵ Meanwhile the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying, ¹⁶ “Go and speak to ^(UG)Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, ^(UH)I will bring My words upon this city for adversity and not for good, and they shall be performed in that day before you. ¹⁷ But I will deliver you in that day,” says the Lord, “and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. ¹⁸ For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but ^(UI)your life shall be as a prize to you, ^(UJ)because you have put your trust in Me,” says the Lord.’ ”

Jeremiah with Gedaliah the Governor^(UK)

40 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord ^(UL)after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all who were carried away captive from Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon.

² And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah and ^(UM)said to him: “The Lord your God has pronounced this doom on this place. ³ Now the Lord has brought it, and has done just as He said. ^(UN)Because you people have sinned against the Lord, and not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing has come upon you. ⁴ And now look, I free you this day from the chains that ^[cx]were on your hand. ^(UO)If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you. But if it seems wrong for you to come with me to Babylon, remain here. See, ^(UP)all the land is before you; wherever it seems good and convenient for you to go, go there.”

⁵ Now while Jeremiah had not yet gone back, Nebuzaradan said, “Go back to ^(UQ)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ^(UR)whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people. Or go wherever it seems convenient for you to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him rations and a gift and let him go. ^6 (US)Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, to ^(UT)Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people who were left in the land.

^7 (UU)And when all the captains of the armies who were in the fields, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, women, children, and ^(UV)the poorest of the land who had not been carried away captive to Babylon, ⁸ then they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—^(UW)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, ^(UX)Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and ^(UY)Jezaniah^[cy] the son of a ^(UZ)Maachathite, they and their men. ⁹ And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath before them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be ^(VA)well with you. ¹⁰ As for me, I will indeed dwell at Mizpah and serve the Chaldeans who come to us. But you, gather wine and summer fruit and oil, put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.” ¹¹ Likewise, when all the Jews who were in Moab, among the Ammonites, in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ¹² then all the Jews ^(VB)returned out of all places where they had been driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruit in abundance.

¹³ Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, ¹⁴ and said to him, ^[cz]“Do you certainly know that ^(VC)Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to murder you?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them.

¹⁵ Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go, please, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he murder you, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered, and the ^(VD)remnant in Judah perish?”

¹⁶ But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing, for you speak falsely concerning Ishmael.”

Insurrection Against Gedaliah

41 Now it came to pass in the seventh month ^(VE)that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal ^[da]family and of the officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at ^(VF)Mizpah. And there they ate bread together in Mizpah. ² Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, arose and ^(VG)struck Gedaliah the son of ^(VH)Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him whom the king of Babylon had made ^(VI)governor over the land. ³ Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is, with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

⁴ And it happened, on the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, when as yet no one knew it, ⁵ that certain men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men ^(VJ)with their beards shaved and their clothes torn, having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to ^(VK)the house of the Lord. ⁶ Now Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went along; and it happened as he met them that he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” ⁷ So it was, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah ^(VL)killed them and cast them into the midst of a ^[db]pit, he and the men who were with him. ⁸ But ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have treasures of wheat, barley, oil, and honey in the field.” So he desisted and did not kill them among their brethren. ⁹ Now the ^[dc]pit into which Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain, because of Gedaliah, was ^(VM)the same one Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. ¹⁰ Then Ishmael carried away captive all the ^(VN)rest of the people who were in Mizpah, ^(VO)the king’s daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, ^(VP)whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive and departed to go over to ^(VQ)the Ammonites.

¹¹ But when ^(VR)Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, ¹² they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah; and they found him by ^(VS)the great pool that is in Gibeon. ¹³ So it was, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, that they were glad. ¹⁴ Then all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites.

¹⁶ Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, took from Mizpah all the ^(VT)rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah after he had murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam—the mighty men of war and the women and the children and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. ¹⁷ And they departed and dwelt in the habitation of ^(VU)Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, as they went on their way to ^(VV)Egypt, ¹⁸ because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, ^(VW)whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land.