Jeremiah 26-37

Lexham English Bible

Jeremiah Escapes Death

26 At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came from Yahweh, saying,^{[a] 2} “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Stand in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and you must speak to all the cities of Judah that come to bow in worship in the house of Yahweh all the words that I command you to speak to them. You must not omit a word. ³ Perhaps they will listen and turn back each from his evil way, and I will relent of the disaster that I am planning to do to them because of their evil deeds. ⁴ And you shall say to them, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set^[b] before you,^{[c] 5} to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I have sent to you, over and over again,^[d] though you have not listened, ⁶ then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse for all the nations of the earth.’”’”

⁷ And the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the temple of Yahweh. ⁸ And then^[e] as Jeremiah finished speaking all that Yahweh had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying,^[f] “You will die! ⁹ Why have you prophesied in the name of Yahweh, saying,^[g] ‘This house will be like Shiloh, and this city will be in ruins, without^[h] inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the temple of Yahweh.

¹⁰ When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the house of the king to the temple of Yahweh, and they sat in the entrance of the New Gate of Yahweh’s temple. ¹¹ Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, saying,^[i] “This man deserves the death sentence,^[j] because he has prophesied against this city as that which you have heard with your ears.”

¹² Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and to all the people, saying,^[k] “Yahweh sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. ¹³ Now therefore^[l] amend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of Yahweh your God, and Yahweh will relent of the disaster that he has spoken over you. ¹⁴ But as for me, look, I am in your hand, do to me what is good and right in your eyes. ¹⁵ Only you must certainly know that if you put me to death, you will bring on yourselves innocent blood, and on this city and on its inhabitants, for truly^[m] Yahweh sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

¹⁶ Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets, “This man does not deserve^[n] a sentence of death, for in the name of Yahweh our God, he has spoken to us.” ¹⁷ Then men from the elders of the land arose and said to all the assembly of the people, saying,^{[o] 18} “Micah the Morashtite was prophesying in the days of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and he said to all the people of Judah, saying:^[p]

¹⁹ Did Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and all Judah actually put him to death? Was he not in fear of Yahweh? And he entreated the face of Yahweh, and Yahweh relented of the disaster that he had spoken against them. But we are about to do great disaster to ourselves.”

²⁰ Indeed, there also was a man prophesying in the name of Yahweh, Uriah, the son of Shemaiah, from Kiriath-Jearim, and he prophesied against this city and against this land like all the words of Jeremiah. ²¹ And when King Jehoiakim, and all his warriors, and all the officials heard his words, then the king sought to put him to death. But Uriah heard, and he was afraid, and he fled and went to Egypt. ²² Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt. Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and men with him went to Egypt. ²³ And they brought out Uriah from Egypt and they brought him to King Jehoiakim, and he struck him down with the sword, and he threw his dead body into the burial sites of the sons of the people. ²⁴ However, the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was not given into the hand of the people to put him to death.

Jeremiah Uses Fetters and Yokes to Illustrate His Message of Submission

27 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying^[r]— ² thus said Yahweh to me—“Make for yourself fetters and yokes and put them on your neck, ³ and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites,^[s] and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon in the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem, to Zedekiah, the king of Judah. ⁴ And you must command them for their masters, saying,^[t] ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, this you shall say to your masters: ⁵ “I have made the earth with humankind and animals^[u] that are on the face of the earth by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and I give it to whomever is right in my eyes. ⁶ And now I myself have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and also the animals^[v] of the field I have given to him to serve him. ⁷ And all the nations will serve him, and his son, and his grandson,^[w] until the coming of the time of his own^[x] land. Then many nations and great kings will let him work.

⁸ “But it will be that the nation or kingdom that will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, and with the famine, and with the plague,” declares^[y] Yahweh, “until I have destroyed it with my hand. ⁹ And you, you must not listen to your prophets, and to your diviners, and to your dreamers, and to your interpreters of signs, and to your sorcerers who are saying,^[z] ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ ¹⁰ For they are prophesying to you a lie, so that you will be removed from your land, and I will drive you away, and you will perish. ¹¹ But the nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and will serve him, yet will I leave it on its land,” declares^[aa] Yahweh, “and they will till it, and they will live in it.”’”

¹² And I spoke words like these to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, saying,^[ab] “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. ¹³ Why should you die—you and your people—by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague, as Yahweh has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴ And you must not listen to the words of the prophets who are speaking to you, saying,^[ac] ‘You must not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying a lie to you. ¹⁵ For I have not sent them,” declares^[ad] Yahweh, “but they are prophesying in my name falsely,^[ae] so that I will drive them away. And you will perish—you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.”

The Vessels of the Temple

¹⁶ Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying,^[af] “Thus says Yahweh, ‘You must not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying,^[ag] “Look, the vessels of the house of Yahweh are about to be quickly brought back from Babylon”, for they are prophesying a lie to you. ¹⁷ And you must not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a site of ruins? ¹⁸ But if they are prophets, and if there is with them the word of Yahweh, let them please plead with Yahweh of hosts, that the vessels that are left over in the temple^[ah] of Yahweh, and the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, must not go to Babylon.’

¹⁹ For thus says Yahweh of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, ²⁰ which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, did not take when he deported Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with^[ai] all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. ²¹ For 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 brought to Babylon, and there they will stay until the day of my attending to them,’ declares^[aj] Yahweh. ‘Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.’”

Hananiah, the False Prophet

28 And it was in that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah, the son of Azzur, the prophet who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of Yahweh before the eyes of the priests and all the people, saying,^{[ak] 2} “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying,^[al] ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. ³ Within two years^[am] I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the house of Yahweh which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon took away from this place and brought to Babylon. ⁴ And Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, and all the exiles^[an] from Judah who went to Babylon, I will bring back to this place,’ declares^[ao] Yahweh, ‘For I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

⁵ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet before the eyes of the priests and before the eyes of all the people who were standing in the house of Yahweh, ⁶ and Jeremiah the prophet said, “Amen! May Yahweh do so; may Yahweh fulfill your words that you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the house of Yahweh and all the exiles^[ap] from Babylon to this place. ⁷ Nevertheless listen please to this word that I am speaking in your hearing^[aq] and in the hearing^[ar] of all the people, ⁸ The prophets who were before^[as] me and before^[at] you from ancient times prophesied against many countries and against great kingdoms of war, and of disaster, and of plague. ⁹ The prophet who prophesies peace, at the coming of the word of the prophet, will become known as the prophet that Yahweh has truly^[au] sent.”

¹⁰ Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. ¹¹ Then Hananiah said before the eyes of all the people, saying,^[av] “Thus says Yahweh, ‘This is how I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, within two years,^[aw] from the neck of all the nations.’” And Jeremiah the prophet went on his way.

¹² And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah after Hananiah the prophet broke the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, saying,^{[ax] 13} “Go, and you must say to Hananiah, saying,^[ay] ‘Thus says Yahweh, “You have broken yoke bars of wood, but you have made in place of them yoke bars of iron.” ¹⁴ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, to serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and they will serve him, and I have even given the animals^[az] of the open field to him.”’”

¹⁵ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, “Please listen, Hananiah, Yahweh has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. ¹⁶ Therefore^[ba] thus says Yahweh, ‘Look, I am going to send you from the face of the earth. This year you will die because you have spoken rebellion against Yahweh.’” ¹⁷ And Hananiah the prophet died in that same year in the seventh month.

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles in Babylon

29 And these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the exiles,^[bb] and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had deported from Jerusalem to Babylon, ² after the going out of Jeconiah the king, and the queen mother, and the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the artisans,^[bc] and the smiths^[bd] from Jerusalem, ³ by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, the king of Judah, sent to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to Babylon, saying,^{[be] 4} “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles^[bf] whom I have deported from Jerusalem to Babylon, ⁵ ‘Build houses and live in them,^[bg] and plant gardens and eat their fruit. ⁶ Take wives and father sons and daughters, and take for your sons wives, and give your daughters to men that they may bear sons and daughters, and multiply there, and you must not be few. ⁷ And seek the prosperity of the city where I have deported you, and pray on behalf of it to Yahweh, for in its prosperity you will have prosperity.’

⁸ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst, and your diviners, deceive you, and you must not listen to your dreams that you are causing them to dream. ⁹ For they are prophesying falsely^[bh] to you in my name; I have not sent them,’ declares^[bi] Yahweh. ¹⁰ For thus says Yahweh, ‘As soon as the time has passed,^[bj] seventy years^[bk] for Babylon, I will attend to you, and I will fulfill my good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ¹¹ For I know the plans that I am planning concerning you,’ declares^[bl] Yahweh, ‘plans for prosperity and not for harm, to give to you a future and a hope. ¹² Then when you call me, and you come and pray to me, then I will listen to you. ¹³ When you search for me, then you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ And I will let myself be found by you,’ declares^[bm] Yahweh, ‘and I will restore your fortunes,^[bn] and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places to which I have driven you,’ declares^[bo] Yahweh, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from which I deported you.’

¹⁵ Because you have said, ‘Yahweh has raised up prophets for us in Babylon’— ¹⁶ for thus says Yahweh concerning the king who sits on the throne of David and concerning all the people who live in this city, your fellow kinsmen who did not go with you into the exile— ¹⁷ thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Look, I am going to send among them the sword, the famine, and the plague, and I will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten because of their bad quality. ¹⁸ And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague, and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse, and a horror, and an object of hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations to which I have driven them, ¹⁹ because they did not listen to my words,’ declares^[bp] Yahweh, ‘when I sent to them my servants the prophets, sending over and over again,^[bq] and they would not listen,’ declares^[br] Yahweh.

²⁰ And you, hear the word of Yahweh, all you exiles^[bs] whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²¹ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you in my name a lie, ‘Look, I am going to give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and he will strike them before your eyes. ²² And a curse will be taken up because of them by all the exiles^[bt] of Judah who are in Babylon, saying,^[bu] “May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” ²³ because they have done a disgraceful thing in Israel, and they have committed adultery with the wives of their neighbors, and they have spoken words^[bv] in my name, lies^[bw] that I have not commanded them, and I am he who knows, and I am a witness,’ declares^[bx] Yahweh.”

Shemaiah’s Letter to Zephaniah the Priest

²⁴ And to Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall say, saying,^{[by] 25} “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying,^[bz] ‘Because you yourself sent a letter^[ca] in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,^{[cb] 26} “Yahweh made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there are overseers in the house of Yahweh over any mad man who exhibits the behavior of a prophet, and you must put him into the stocks and into the neck iron, ²⁷ and so then why have you not rebuked Jeremiah the Anathothite who exhibits the behavior of a prophet for you? ²⁸ Because^[cc] he has sent to us in Babylon, saying,^[cd] ‘It will be a long time, build houses and live in them,^[ce] and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’”’” ²⁹ And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing^[cf] of Jeremiah the prophet.

Jeremiah’s Response to Shemaiah’s Letter

³⁰ And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,^{[cg] 31} “Send to all the exiles,^[ch] saying,^[ci] ‘Thus says Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah prophesied to you, though I have not sent him, and he has made you trust in a lie,” ³² therefore^[cj] thus says Yahweh, “Look, I am going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his offspring. There will not be for him a man who lives in the midst of this people, and he will not see the good that I am going to do to my people,” declares^[ck] Yahweh, “For he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.”’”

Israel and Judah Will Be Delivered from Their Distress

30 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,^{[cl] 2} “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, saying,^[cm] ‘Write for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you in a scroll. ³ For look, days are coming,’ declares^[cn] Yahweh, ‘when I will restore the fortunes^[co] of my people Israel and Judah,’ says Yahweh, ‘and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors^[cp] and they will take possession of it.’”

⁴ Now these are the words that Yahweh spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. ⁵ “For thus says Yahweh:

¹² For thus says Yahweh,

¹⁸ Thus says Yahweh:

31 “At that time,” declares^[dc] Yahweh,

² Thus says Yahweh:

⁷ For thus says Yahweh,

¹⁶ Thus says Yahweh:

²³ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “They will again say these words^[dq] in the land of Judah and in its towns at my restoring their fortunes,^[dr]

The New Covenant

²⁷ “Look, the days are coming,” declares^[dt] Yahweh, “and I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humankind, and with the seed of animals.^{[du] 28} And then^[dv] as I have watched over them to pull up, and to tear down, and to annihilate, and to destroy, and to do evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares^[dw] Yahweh. ²⁹ “In those days they will say no longer, ‘Parents^[dx] have eaten unripe fruit, and the teeth of the children are set on edge^[dy].’ ³⁰ But^[dz] each will die because of his iniquity, everyone^[ea] who eats the unripe fruit, their teeth will be set on edge.^[eb]

³¹ Look, the days are coming,” declares^[ec] Yahweh, “and I will make^[ed] a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant that I made^[ee] with their ancestors^[ef] on the day of my grasping them^[eg] by their hand, bringing them out from the land of Egypt, my covenant that they themselves broke, though I myself was a master over them,” declares^[eh] Yahweh. ³³ “But this is the covenant that I will make^[ei] with the house of Israel after those days,” declares^[ej] Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward parts and on their hearts^[ek] I will write it, and I will be to them God, and they themselves will be to me people. ³⁴ And they will no longer teach each one his neighbor, or each one his brother, saying,^[el] ‘Know Yahweh,’ for all of them will know me, from their smallest^[em] and up to their greatest,”^[en] declares^[eo] Yahweh, “for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will no longer remember.”

³⁵ Thus says Yahweh, who gives the sun for light by day, the regulations of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar—Yahweh of hosts is his name. ³⁶ “If these rules would cease from before me,”^[ep] declares^[eq] Yahweh, “also the offspring of Israel would cease from being a nation before me^[er] forever.”^{[es] 37} Thus says Yahweh, “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, also I will reject all the offspring of Israel because of all that they have done,” declares^[et] Yahweh. ³⁸ “Look, days are coming,” declares^[eu] Yahweh, “and the city will be rebuilt for Yahweh, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. ³⁹ And the measuring line^[ev] will still go out immediately in front of it to the hill of Gareb, and it will turn to Goah. ⁴⁰ And the whole of the valley of the corpses, and the ashes, and all the cultivated fields up to the wadi of Kidron, up to the corner of the Gate of the Horses toward the east will be holy to Yahweh. It will not be uprooted, and it will not be overthrown again forever.”^[ew]

Jeremiah Buys a Field

32 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah the king of Judah, that was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. ² Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was laying siege to Jerusalem and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, ³ where Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had confined him, saying,^[ex] “Why are you prophesying, saying,^[ey] ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Look, I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it, ⁴ and Zedekiah, the king of Judah, will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but surely he will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak face to face with him^[ez] and he will see him eye to eye,^{[fa] 5} and to Babylon he will bring Zedekiah, and there he will be until my attending to him,” declares^[fb] Yahweh. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not be successful”’?”

⁶ And Jeremiah said, “The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^{[fc] 7} ‘Look, Hanamel, the son of Shallum, your uncle, is going to come to you, saying,^[fd] “Buy for yourself my field that is at Anathoth, for you have^[fe] the right of redemption to buy it.”’^{[ff] 8} Then Hanamel, the son of my uncle, came to me, to the courtyard of the guard according to^[fg] the word of Yahweh, and he said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is at Anathoth, that is in the land of Benjamin, for to you is the claim of possession, and to you the redemption; buy it^[fh] for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of Yahweh.

⁹ And I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle, that was at Anathoth. And I weighed out to him the money, seventeen silver shekels. ¹⁰ And I signed on the letter^[fi] and sealed it,^[fj] and I called witnesses as witness, and I weighed out the money on a set of scales. ¹¹ Then I took the deed^[fk] of the purchase, the sealed copy containing the commandments^[fl] and the rules, together with the one that was open. ¹² And I gave the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of^[fm] Hanamel, the son of my uncle, and in the presence of^[fn] the witnesses who signed the deed of the purchase, in the presence of^[fo] the Judeans^[fp] who were sitting in the courtyard of the guard. ¹³ And I commanded Baruch in their presence,^[fq] saying,^{[fr] 14} ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds,^[fs] this deed of the purchase, the sealed one, and this opened deed, and you must put them in an earthenware jar^[ft] so that they may be kept preserved many days.” ¹⁵ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’

¹⁶ And I prayed to Yahweh—after giving my deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah—saying,^{[fu] 17} ‘Ah Lord Yahweh! Look, you made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. Nothing^[fv] is too difficult for you, ¹⁸ showing loyal love to the thousands, and repaying the guilt of parents^[fw] into the laps^[fx] of their children after them. Powerful, great, mighty, his name is Yahweh of hosts, ¹⁹ great in counsel and great in deed, whose eyes are opened to all the ways of the children of humankind, to give to each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds, ²⁰ who accomplished signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, up to this day, and in Israel, and among humankind, and you have made for yourself a name, as it is this day.

²¹ And you brought out your people Israel from the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an arm stretched out, and with great terror. ²² And you gave to them this land, which you swore to their ancestors^[fy] to give to them, a land flowing with milk and honey. ²³ And they entered and took possession of it, but they did not listen to your voice, and they did not follow your law. They did nothing of all that you commanded to them to do, and you caused to happen to them all this disaster. ²⁴ Look, the siege ramps have come up to the city to capture it, and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the plague, and what you spoke happened, and look, you are seeing it.^{[fz] 25} Yet you have said to me, Lord Yahweh, “Buy for yourself the field with the money, and call witnesses as witness,” though the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’”

²⁶ And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,^{[ga] 27} “Look, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh; is anything^[gb] too difficult for me?” ²⁸ Therefore^[gc] thus says Yahweh: “Look, I am going to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. ²⁹ And the Chaldeans, who are fighting against this city, will come and set this city on fire, and they will burn it, and the houses where they have made smoke offerings on their roofs to Baal, and where they have devoted libations to other gods, in order to provoke me to anger. ³⁰ For the people^[gd] of Israel and the people^[ge] of Judah were doing only evil in my eyes from their youth, for the people^[gf] of Israel were only provoking me to anger by the work of their hands,” declares^[gg] Yahweh.

³¹ “For this city has been for me a cause of my anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even until this day, so I will remove it from my sight,^{[gh] 32} because of all the evil of the people^[gi] of Israel and the people^[gj] of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, and the men^[gk] of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³³ And they have turned to me their backs^[gl] and not their faces, though I have taught them over and over again,^[gm] but they were not listening to accept discipline. ³⁴ And they set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. ³⁵ And they built the high places of Baal that are in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to present as offerings their sons and their daughters to Molech, which I had not commanded them, and it had not come to my mind^[gn] to do this detestable thing in order to cause Judah to sin.”

³⁶ “So now therefore,^[go] thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning this city, of which you are saying, ‘It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague’: ³⁷ Look, I am going to gather them from all the lands to which I driven them in my anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath, and I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell in safety.^{[gp] 38} And they will be for me a people, and I will be for them God. ³⁹ And I will give to them one heart and one way, to revere me forever,^[gq] for good to them, and to their children after them. ⁴⁰ And I will make^[gr] with them an everlasting covenant^[gs] that I will not turn away from them, my doing good to them, and my reverence I will put in their hearts^[gt] so that they will not turn aside from me. ⁴¹ And I will rejoice over them to do good to them, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness with all my heart, and with all my inner self.”^[gu]

⁴² “For thus says Yahweh, ‘Just as I have brought to this people all this great disaster, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise to them. ⁴³ And the fields^[gv] will be bought in this land of which you are saying, “It is a desolation, without humankind or animals.^[gw] It has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” ⁴⁴ They will buy fields with money, and they will sign the deeds,^[gx] and they will seal them,^[gy] and they will call witnesses as witness in the land of Benjamin, and in the surroundings of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negev, for I will restore their fortunes,’^[gz] declares^[ha] Yahweh.”

The Fortunes of Judah and Israel Will Be Restored

33 And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah a second time while he was still held back in the courtyard of the guard, saying,^{[hb] 2} “Thus says Yahweh who made the earth,^[hc] Yahweh who formed it to establish it, Yahweh is his name: ³ ‘Call to me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great things and inaccessible things that you have not known.’ ⁴ For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, that were torn down to make a defense against the siege ramps and against the sword: ⁵ ‘They are coming to fight against the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the corpses of the people whom I will strike in my anger and in my wrath, for whom I have hidden my face from this city because of all their wickedness. ⁶ Look, I am going to bring healing and health to it, and I will heal them, and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and reliability. ⁷ And I will restore the fortunes^[hd] of Judah and the fortunes^[he] of Israel, and I will rebuild them as in the beginning. ⁸ And I will cleanse them from all their guilt that they sinned against me, and I will forgive all their iniquities that they sinned against me, and that they rebelled against me. ⁹ And it will be to me a name of jubilation, a praise, and a glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear all the good that I will do for them, and they will fear,^[hf] and they will tremble because of all the good, and because of all the prosperity that I will provide for it.’

¹⁰ “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Again will be heard in this place, of which you are saying, “It is a waste, without^[hg] people and without^[hh] animals,”^[hi] in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without^[hj] people and without^[hk] inhabitants^[hl] and without^[hm] animals,^{[hn] 11} the voice of jubilation, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voices^[ho] of those who say, “Praise Yahweh of hosts, for Yahweh is good, for his loyal love is forever,”^[hp] the voices of those who bring thank offerings^[hq] to the house of Yahweh, for I will restore the fortunes^[hr] of the land as in the beginning,’ says Yahweh. ¹² Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Again there will be in this waste place, without^[hs] people and animals,^[ht] and in all its towns, pasture for shepherds allowing their flock to lie down. ¹³ In the towns of the hill country, in the towns of the Shephelah, and in the towns of the Negev, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the surroundings of Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hands of the counter,’ says Yahweh.

¹⁴ ‘Look, days are coming,’ declares^[hu] Yahweh, ‘and I will fulfill the good promise^[hv] that I promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and in that time I will make a branch of righteousness sprout for David, and he will execute justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely,^[hw] and this is what they shall call it: “Yahweh is our righteousness.”’ ¹⁷ For thus says Yahweh: ‘A man who sits on the throne of the house of Israel will not be cut off for David. ¹⁸ And for the priests, a man from the Levites who offers burnt offerings^[hx] and who burns grain offerings^[hy] and who brings sacrifices^[hz] will not be cut off before me^[ia] forever.’”^[ib]

¹⁹ And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,^{[ic] 20} “Thus says Yahweh: ‘If you could break my covenant with the day, and my covenant with the night, so that day and night would not come at their time, ²¹ then my covenant could be broken with David my servant, from having^[id] a son who could rule on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, my ministers. ²² As the host of heaven cannot be counted, and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will make numerous the offspring of David my servant and the Levites who minister to me.’” ²³ And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,^{[ie] 24} “Have you not seen how these people speak, saying,^[if] ‘The two clans^[ig] whom Yahweh chose, he has also rejected them’? Thus they spurn my people from being a nation before them^[ih] any longer. ²⁵ Thus says Yahweh: ‘If my covenant with day and with night, the regulations of heaven and earth, I had not established, ²⁶ then the offspring of Jacob and David my servant I would reject, from choosing rulers from his offspring over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I will restore their fortunes^[ii] and I will have compassion on them.’”

A Message for Zedekiah

34 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and all his army, with all the kingdoms of the earth under the dominion of his hand, and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and against all its cities, saying,^{[ij] 2} “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘Go and say to Zedekiah the king of Judah, now you must say to him, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Look, I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire. ³ And you will not escape from his hand, but surely you will be captured, and into his hand you will be given, and you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye,^[ik] and you will speak face to face with him,^[il] and to Babylon you will go.’ ⁴ However, hear the word of Yahweh, O Zedekiah, the king of Judah. Thus says Yahweh concerning you: ‘You will not die by the sword. ⁵ In peace you will die, and as there was burning for your ancestors,^[im] the former kings who were before you,^[in] so they will burn for you, and they will lament for you, “Alas, lord!” For the word I have spoken,’ declares^[io] Yahweh.”’” ⁶ Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Zedekiah the king of Judah all these words in Jerusalem ⁷ when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left over—Lachish and Azekah, for these remained among the cities of Judah, the cities of fortification.

Zedekiah’s Covenant Concerning Slaves

⁸ The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after king Zedekiah made^[ip] a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim release to them, ⁹ to let go each one his male slave and each one his female slave, the Hebrew and the free Hebrew, so that no one among the Judeans^[iq] should enslave his fellow countryman. ¹⁰ And all the officials and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant to let go each one his male slave and each one his female slave, not enslaving them again, and they obeyed and they let them^[ir] go. ¹¹ But afterward^[is] they turned back and they brought back the male slaves and the female slaves whom they had let go free, and they subdued them as male slaves and female slaves.

¹² And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,^{[it] 13} “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘I made^[iu] a covenant with your ancestors^[iv] on the day of my bringing them out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves, saying,^{[iw] 14} “At the end of seven years you must let go each one his fellow countryman, the Hebrew who has been sold to you and who has served you six years, and you must let him go free from you.” But your ancestors^[ix] did not listen to me, and they did not incline their ears.^{[iy] 15} And you turned back recently^[iz] and you did right in my eyes, to proclaim release each one to his neighbor, and you made^[ja] a covenant before me^[jb] in the house that is called by^[jc] my name. ¹⁶ But you turned back and you profaned my name when you brought back each one his male slave and each one his female slave, whom you had let go free according to their desire, and you subdued them to be to you as male slaves and as female slaves.’

¹⁷ “Therefore^[jd] thus says Yahweh, ‘You have not listened to me to proclaim release each one to his fellow countryman and each one to his neighbor. Look, I am going to proclaim to you a release,’ declares^[je] Yahweh, ‘to the sword, to the plague, and to the famine, and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸ And I will make the men who transgressed my covenant, who have not kept the words of the covenant that they made^[jf] before me,^[jg] like the calf which they cut in two and they passed between its parts— ¹⁹ the officials of Judah, and the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— ²⁰ and I will give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of the seekers of their lives, and their dead bodies^[jh] will become as food for the birds^[ji] of the heavens^[jj] and for the animals^[jk] of the earth. ²¹ And Zedekiah the king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of the seekers of their lives, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, who retreated from you. ²² Look, I am going to command,’ declares^[jl] Yahweh, ‘and I will bring them back to this city, and they will fight against it, and they will capture it, and they will burn it with fire, and the towns of Judah I will make a desolation without^[jm] an inhabitant.’”

The Faithfulness of the Rechabites

35 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, saying,^{[jn] 2} “Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them to the house of Yahweh into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.” ³ So I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole of the house of the Rechabites, ⁴ and I brought them to the house of Yahweh, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was beside the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.

⁵ Then I set^[jo] before^[jp] the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” ⁶ But they answered, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our ancestor,^[jq] commanded us, saying,^[jr] ‘You shall not drink wine, you or your children, forever.^{[js] 7} And you shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed, and you shall not plant a vineyard, and it shall not be for you, but in tents you shall live all your days, so that you may live many days on the surface of the land where you are dwelling as aliens.’ ⁸ And we obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our ancestor,^[jt] in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, ⁹ and not to build houses for our living, and there is not vineyard, or field, or seed for us. ¹⁰ But we have lived in tents, and we have obeyed, and we have done all that Jehonadab, our ancestor,^[ju] commanded us. ¹¹ But then^[jv] at the coming up against the land of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, then we said, ‘Come and let us go to Jerusalem before^[jw] the army of the Chaldeans, and before^[jx] the army of the Arameans.’^[jy] That is why we are living in Jerusalem.”

¹² And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,^{[jz] 13} “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and say to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Can you not learn a lesson to listen to my words?” declares^[ka] Yahweh. ¹⁴ “The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, that he commanded his descendants^[kb] to not drink, have been carried out, and they have not drunk until this day, for they have obeyed the command of their ancestor.^[kc] But I have spoken to you over and over again,^[kd] and you have not listened to me. ¹⁵ And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, I have sent them over and over again,^[ke] saying,^[kf] ‘Turn back please each one from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and you must not go after other gods to serve them, so that you may live^[kg] on the land that I gave to you and to your ancestors.’^[kh] But you did not incline your ear and you did not listen to me. ¹⁶ For the descendants^[ki] of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have carried out the command of their ancestor^[kj] that he commanded them, but this people did not listen to me.”

¹⁷ Therefore^[kk] thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Look, I am going to bring to Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have spoken against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, and I have called to them and they have not answered.”’” ¹⁸ But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have listened to the command of Jonadab your ancestor,^[kl] and you have kept all his commands, and you have done all that he commanded you,’ ¹⁹ therefore^[km] thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘A man will not be cut off for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, to stand before me^[kn] always.’”^[ko]

Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll of Jeremiah’s Prophecies

36 And then^[kp] in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,^{[kq] 2} “Take for yourself a scroll^[kr] and you must write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day that I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, and until this day. ³ Perhaps when the house of Judah hears all the disasters^[ks] that I am planning to do to them, then they may turn back each one from his evil way, and I will forgive their guilt and their sin.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Yahweh that he had spoken to him on a scroll.^{[kt] 5} And Jeremiah instructed Baruch, saying,^[ku] “I am held back, I am not able to enter the temple of Yahweh. ⁶ So you must go and you shall read aloud from the scroll that you have written from my mouth the words of Yahweh in the hearing of the people in the temple of Yahweh on a day of fast, and also you shall read aloud in the hearing of all those of Judah who came from their towns. ⁷ Perhaps their plea will fall before^[kv] Yahweh and each one will turn away from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that Yahweh pronounced against this people.” ⁸ And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet instructed him, to read aloud from the scroll the words of Yahweh in the temple of Yahweh.

⁹ And then^[kw] in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the towns of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before^[kx] Yahweh. ¹⁰ Then Baruch read aloud from the scroll the words of Jeremiah in the temple of Yahweh, in the chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, the secretary, in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the temple of Yahweh in the hearing of all the people.

¹¹ When Micaiah, the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of Yahweh from the scroll, ¹² he went down to the house of the king, to the chamber of the secretary, and look, all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, and Delaiah, the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah, the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. ¹³ And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard at the reading aloud of Baruch from the scroll in the hearing of the people.

¹⁴ Then all the officials sent Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying,^[ky] “The scroll that you read aloud from in the hearing of the people, take it in your hand and come.” And Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and he came to them. ¹⁵ And they said to him, “Sit please and read it aloud in our hearing.” So Baruch read aloud in their hearing. ¹⁶ And then,^[kz] the moment of their hearing all the words, they turned to one another in alarm^[la] and they said to Baruch, “We must certainly report all these words to the king!” ¹⁷ Then they asked Baruch, saying,^[lb] “Tell us please, how did you write all these words, from his mouth?” ¹⁸ And Baruch said to them, “From his mouth. He dictated to me all these words and I was writing on the scroll with the ink.” ¹⁹ Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and let not a man know where you are.”

²⁰ And they went to the king, to the courtyard, and they put^[lc] the scroll for safe-keeping in the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words in the hearing of the king. ²¹ Then the king sent Jehudi to take the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and Jehudi read it aloud in the hearing of the king, and in the hearing of all the officials who stood next to the king. ²² Now the king was sitting in the quarters of the winter in the ninth month, and a fire-pot was burning before^[ld] him. ²³ And then,^[le] as Jehudi read three or four columns, he would cut it up in pieces with the knife of the scribe, and he would throw it^[lf] into the fire that was in the fire-pot until the whole of the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire-pot. ²⁴ And the king and any of his servants who heard all these words were not startled, and they did not tear their garments. ²⁵ And even when Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. ²⁶ And the king commanded Jerahmeel, the son of the king, and Seraiah, the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah, the son of Abdeel, to arrest Baruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet, but Yahweh hid them.

²⁷ And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah after the king burned the scroll and the words that Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,^{[lg] 28} “Take again^[lh] for yourself 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 concerning Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, you shall say, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “You have burned this scroll, saying,^[li] ‘Why have you written in it, saying,^[lj] “The king of Babylon will certainly come and he will destroy this land, and he will cause to disappear from it humankind and animals”?’”^{[lk] 30} Therefore^[ll] thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, “There will not be for him one who sits on the throne of David. And his dead body will be thrown out to the heat in the day and to the frost in the night. ³¹ And I will punish him, and his offspring, and his servants for their guilt, and I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah all the disaster with which I have threatened them, but they would not listen.”’” ³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the secretary, and he wrote on it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, had burned in the fire, and furthermore was added to them many words like these.

The Babylonians Withdraw to Meet a Threat from Egypt

37 And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had made king, reigned as king in the land of Judah in place of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim. ² But he and his servants and the people of the land did not listen to the words of Yahweh that he spoke by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet. ³ And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,^[lm] “Please pray for us to Yahweh our God.” ⁴ Now Jeremiah was coming and going out in the midst of the people and they had not put him in the house of imprisonment. ⁵ And the army of Pharaoh had come out from Egypt, and the Chaldeans, who were laying siege to Jerusalem, heard their report and they withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶ And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,^{[ln] 7} “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘This is what you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me, “Look, the army of Pharaoh, which set out to help you, is going to return to his land Egypt. ⁸ And the Chaldeans will return, and they will fight against this city, and they will capture it, and they will burn it with fire.”’ ⁹ Thus says Yahweh: ‘You must not deceive yourselves, saying,^[lo] “Surely the Chaldeans will go from us,” for they will not go. ¹⁰ For even if you struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and only men pierced through remained among them, each one in his tent, they would rise up and they would burn this city with fire.’”

Jeremiah is Arrested and Put in Prison

¹¹ And then,^[lp] at the withdrawing of the army of the Chaldeans from Jerusalem before^[lq] the army of Pharaoh, ¹² Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive a portion from there in the midst of the people. ¹³ And when^[lr] he was at the Gate of Benjamin, there was a sentry on duty^[ls] whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying,^[lt] “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!” ¹⁴ And Jeremiah said, “That is a lie! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But he would not listen to him. So Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. ¹⁵ And the officials were angry at Jeremiah and they struck him. And they put him in prison,^[lu] in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for they had converted it to the prison^[lv]. ¹⁶ So Jeremiah came to the dungeon^[lw], even to the vaulted cells, and Jeremiah stayed there many days.

¹⁷ Then King Zedekiah sent and fetched him. And the king questioned him in secrecy in his house, and he said, “Is there a word from Yahweh?” And Jeremiah said, “There is.” And he said, “You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon.”

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What did I do wrong to you, or to your servants, or to this people, that you have put me in prison?^{[lx] 19} And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying,^[ly] ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? ²⁰ Now then, my lord the king, please let my plea fall before you.^[lz] You must not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, so that I will not die there.” ²¹ So King Zedekiah commanded, and they handed Jeremiah over in the courtyard of the guard, and they gave to him a round loaf of bread from the street of the bakers every day^[ma] until the finishing of all the bread from the city. And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.