Jeremiah’s Call and Commission

The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,

Now behold, I have made you today like a fortified city and like a pillar of iron and walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its leaders, to its priests, and to the people of the land.

The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who handle the Law did not know Me; The rulers also revolted against Me, And the prophets prophesied by Baal And walked after things that were of no benefit.

“Like the shame of a thief when he is discovered, So the house of Israel is shamed; They, their kings, their leaders, Their priests, and their prophets,

“And it shall come about on that day,” declares the Lord, “that the heart of the king and the hearts of the leaders will fail; and the priests will tremble, and the prophets will be astonished.”

The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it this way! But what will you do when the end comes?

“For from the least of them to the greatest of them, Everyone is greedy for gain, And from the prophet to the priest Everyone deals falsely.

The Sin and Treachery of Judah

“At that time,” declares the Lord, “they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its leaders, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves.

Therefore I will give their wives to others, Their fields to new owners; Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is greedy for gain; From the prophet even to the priest, Everyone practices deceit.

then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings who sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness!

If I go out to the country, There are those killed by the sword! Or if I enter the city, There are diseases from famine! For both prophet and priest Have wandered around in the land that they do not know.’”

Then they said, “Come and let’s devise plans against Jeremiah. Certainly the Law is not going to be lost by the priest, nor advice by the wise, nor the divine word by the prophet! Come, and let’s strike at him with our tongue, and let’s pay no attention to any of his words.”

The Broken Jar

This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jar, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests.

Pashhur Persecutes Jeremiah

When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief overseer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,

Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying,

“For both prophet and priest are defiled; Even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the Lord.

“Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you, saying, ‘What is the pronouncement of the Lord?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What pronouncement?’ The Lord declares, ‘I will abandon you.’

Then as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘The pronouncement of the Lord,’ I will bring punishment upon that person and his household.

A Plot to Murder Jeremiah

The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord.

Yet when Jeremiah finished speaking everything that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You must die!

Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied against this city, just as you have heard with your own ears!”

Jeremiah Is Spared

Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “No death sentence for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”

Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, “Behold, the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon”; for they are prophesying a lie to you.

Hananiah’s False Prophecy

Now in the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah the prophet the son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me at the house of the Lord in the sight of the priests and all the people, saying,

Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the sight of the priests and in the sight of all the people who were standing at the house of the Lord,