Jeremiah 25-28

Legacy Standard Bible

Seventy Years of Captivity

25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the ^(A)fourth year of ^(B)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the ^(C)first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), ² which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the ^(D)people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ³ “From the ^(E)thirteenth year of ^(F)Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, ^[a]these ^(G)twenty-three years the word of Yahweh has come to me, and I have spoken to you, ^[b](H)rising up early and speaking, but you have not listened. ⁴ And Yahweh has sent to you all His ^(I)slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear, ⁵ saying, ‘^(J)Turn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the ground which Yahweh has given to you and your fathers ^(K)forever and ever; ⁶ and ^(L)do not walk after other gods to ^[c]serve them and to ^[d]worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will bring no evil against you.’ ⁷ Yet you have not listened to Me,” declares Yahweh, “in order that you might ^(M)provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own evil demise.

⁸ “Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Because you have not listened to My words, ⁹ behold, I will ^(N)send and take all the families of the north,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^(O)My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will ^[e]devote them to destruction and ^(P)make them an object of horror and of hissing and an everlasting waste place. ¹⁰ Moreover, I will ^[f](Q)make the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the ^(R)sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp, to perish from them. ^11 (S)This whole land will be a waste place and an object of horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon ^(T)seventy years.

Punishment Against Babylon

¹² ‘Then it will be ^(U)when seventy years are fulfilled, that I will ^(V)punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares Yahweh, ‘for their iniquity, even the land of the Chaldeans; and ^(W)I will make it an everlasting desolation. ¹³ I will bring upon that land all My words which I have spoken against it, all that is written in ^(X)this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against ^(Y)all the nations. ¹⁴ —^[g]For ^(Z)many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will ^(AA)repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands—’”

¹⁵ For thus Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this ^(AB)cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. ¹⁶ They will ^(AC)drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”

¹⁷ Then I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and ^(AD)made all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me drink it: ^18 (AE)Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a waste place, an object of horror, an object of hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; ^19 (AF)Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, and all his people, ²⁰ and all the ^[h](AG)foreign people, all the kings of the ^(AH)land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the ^(AI)Philistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of ^(AJ)Ashdod), ^21 (AK)Edom, ^(AL)Moab, and the sons of ^(AM)Ammon, ²² and all the kings of ^(AN)Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of ^(AO)the coastlands which are beyond the sea, ²³ and ^(AP)Dedan, Tema, ^(AQ)Buz, and all who ^(AR)cut ^[i]the corners of their hair, ²⁴ and all the kings of ^(AS)Arabia and all the kings of the ^[j](AT)foreign people who dwell in the desert, ²⁵ and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of ^(AU)Elam, and all the kings of ^(AV)Media, ²⁶ and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and ^(AW)all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of ^[k](AX)Sheshach shall drink after them.

²⁷ “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “^(AY)Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more because of the ^(AZ)sword which I will send among you.”’ ²⁸ And it will be, if they ^(BA)refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts: “^(BB)You shall surely drink! ²⁹ For behold, I am ^(BC)beginning to bring evil against this city which is ^(BD)called by My name. But shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment, for ^(BE)I am calling for a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares Yahweh of hosts.’

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

³² Thus says Yahweh of hosts,

³³ “Those ^(BL)slain by Yahweh on that day will be from one end of the earth to the ^[m]other. They will ^(BM)not be lamented, gathered, or buried; they will be like ^(BN)dung on the face of the ground.

The Words of Yahweh Against Judah

26 In the beginning of the reign of ^(BU)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from Yahweh, saying, ² “Thus says Yahweh, ‘^(BV)Stand in the court of the house of Yahweh, and you shall speak to all the cities of Judah who have ^(BW)come to worship in the house of Yahweh ^(BX)all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. ^(BY)Do not take away a word! ^3 (BZ)Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that ^(CA)I may ^[o]relent of the evil which I am devising to ^[p]bring against them because of the evil of their deeds.’ ⁴ And you will say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “^(CB)If you will not listen to Me, to ^(CC)walk in My law which I have given before you, ⁵ to listen to the words of ^(CD)My slaves the prophets, whom I have been sending to you, rising up early and sending, but you have not listened, ⁶ then I will make this house like ^(CE)Shiloh, and this city I will make a ^(CF)curse to all the nations of the earth.”’”

Plot to Murder Jeremiah

⁷ The ^(CG)priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Yahweh. ⁸ Now it happened that when Jeremiah finished speaking all that Yahweh had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “^(CH)You must surely die! ⁹ Why have you prophesied in the name of Yahweh saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh, and this city will be ^(CI)laid waste, without inhabitant’?” And ^(CJ)all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of Yahweh.

¹⁰ When the ^(CK)officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of Yahweh and sat in the ^(CL)entrance of the New Gate of the house of Yahweh. ¹¹ Then the priests and the prophets ^(CM)spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A ^(CN)judgment of death for this man! For he has prophesied ^(CO)against this city as you have heard in your hearing.”

¹² Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, “^(CP)Yahweh sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. ¹³ So now, ^(CQ)make good your ways and your deeds and listen to the voice of Yahweh your God; and Yahweh will ^[q]relent of the evil demise which He has spoken against you. ¹⁴ But as for me, behold, ^(CR)I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your eyes. ¹⁵ Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring ^(CS)innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on its inhabitants; for truly Yahweh has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

Jeremiah Spared from Death

¹⁶ Then the officials and all the people ^(CT)said to the priests and to the prophets, “No ^(CU)judgment of death for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of Yahweh our God.” ¹⁷ Then ^(CV)some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying, ¹⁸ “^[r](CW)Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus Yahweh of hosts has said,

¹⁹ Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not ^(CZ)fear Yahweh and entreat the favor of Yahweh, and ^(DA)Yahweh ^[t]relented of the evil demise which He had spoken against them? But we are ^(DB)committing a great evil against ourselves.”

²⁰ Indeed, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of Yahweh, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from ^(DC)Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah. ²¹ And King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and all the officials heard his words. So the ^(DD)king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard it, and he was afraid and ^(DE)fled and went to Egypt. ²² Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: ^(DF)Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him went into Egypt. ²³ And they brought Uriah out from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who ^(DG)struck him down with a sword and cast his dead body into the ^[u]burial place of the ^[v]common people.

²⁴ But the hand of ^(DH)Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was ^(DI)not given into the hands of the people to put him to death.

The Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar

27 In the beginning of the reign of ^[w](DJ)Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying— ² thus says Yahweh to me—“Make for yourself ^(DK)bonds and the ^(DL)bars of a yoke and put them on your neck, ³ and you shall send ^[x]word to the king of ^(DM)Edom, to the king of ^(DN)Moab, to the king of the sons of ^(DO)Ammon, to the king of ^(DP)Tyre, and to the king of ^(DQ)Sidon by the hand of messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. ⁴ And you shall command them to go to their masters, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, thus you shall say to your masters, ⁵ “^(DR)I have made the earth, the men, and the animals which are on the face of the earth ^(DS)by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will ^(DT)give it to the one who is right in My eyes. ⁶ So now, I ^(DU)have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^(DV)My servant, and I have given him even the ^(DW)wild beasts of the field to serve him. ^7 (DX)All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson ^(DY)until the time of his own land comes; then ^(DZ)many nations and great kings will ^[y]make him their servant.

⁸ “And it will be, that the nation or the kingdom which ^(EA)will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the ^(EB)sword, with famine, and with pestilence,” declares Yahweh, “until I have brought ^[z]it to an end by his hand. ⁹ But as for you, ^(EC)do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your ^[aa]dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ ¹⁰ For they prophesy a ^(ED)lie to you in order to ^(EE)remove you far from your land; and I will banish you, and you will perish. ¹¹ But the nation which will ^(EF)bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will ^(EG)leave it on its land,” declares Yahweh, “and they will serve it and inhabit it.”’”

¹² I spoke words like all these to ^(EH)Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live! ¹³ Why will you ^(EI)die, you and your people, by the sword, famine, and pestilence, as Yahweh has spoken to that nation which will not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴ So ^(EJ)do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a ^(EK)lie to you; ¹⁵ for ^(EL)I have not sent them,” declares Yahweh, “but they ^(EM)prophesy a lie in My name, in order that I may ^(EN)banish you and that you may perish, ^(EO)you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

¹⁶ Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says Yahweh: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Behold, the ^(EP)vessels of the house of Yahweh will now shortly be returned from Babylon’; for they are prophesying a ^(EQ)lie to you. ¹⁷ Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city ^(ER)become a waste place? ¹⁸ But ^(ES)if they are prophets, and if the word of Yahweh is with them, let them now ^(ET)intercede with Yahweh of hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of Yahweh, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. ¹⁹ For thus says Yahweh of hosts concerning the ^(EU)pillars, concerning the sea, concerning the stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, ²⁰ which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he ^(EV)carried away into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. ²¹ Indeed, thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Yahweh and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem, ²² ‘They will be ^(EW)brought to Babylon, and they will be there until the ^(EX)day I ^[ab]visit them,’ declares Yahweh. ‘Then I will ^(EY)bring them up and return them to this place.’”

Hananiah’s Rebellion Against Yahweh

28 Now it happened in the same year, ^(EZ)in the beginning of the reign of ^(FA)Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that ^(FB)Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was from ^(FC)Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of Yahweh in the sight of the priests and all the people, saying, ² “^(FD)Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. ³ Within two years I am going to return to this place ^(FE)all the vessels of the house of Yahweh, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. ⁴ I am ^(FF)also going to return to this place ^(FG)Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the ^(FH)exiles of Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares Yahweh, ‘for I will break the ^(FI)yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

⁵ Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the sight of the priests and in the sight of all the people who were standing in the ^(FJ)house of Yahweh, ⁶ and the prophet Jeremiah said, “^(FK)Amen! May Yahweh do so; may Yahweh establish your words which you have prophesied to return the vessels of the house of Yahweh and all the exiles, from Babylon to this place. ⁷ Yet ^(FL)hear now this word which I am about to speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people! ⁸ The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times ^(FM)prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of calamity and of pestilence. ⁹ The prophet who prophesies of peace, ^(FN)when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then that prophet will be known as one whom Yahweh has truly sent.”

¹⁰ Then Hananiah the prophet took ^(FO)the bar of the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. ¹¹ And Hananiah spoke in the sight of all the people, saying, “^(FP)Thus says Yahweh, ‘Even so will I break within two full years the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’” Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

¹² Then the ^(FQ)word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah after Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar of the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ “Go and speak to Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “You have broken the bars of a yoke made of wood, but you have made in their place the ^(FR)bars of a yoke made of iron.” ¹⁴ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “I have put a ^(FS)yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will ^(FT)serve him. And ^(FU)I have even given him the beasts of the field.”’” ¹⁵ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen now, Hananiah, Yahweh has not sent you, and ^(FV)you have made this people trust in a lie. ¹⁶ Therefore thus says Yahweh, ‘^(FW)Behold, I am about to ^[ac]remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to ^(FX)die because you have ^(FY)spoken rebellion against Yahweh.’”

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