Chronological

The Words of Yahweh Against Judah

26 In the beginning of the reign of ^(A)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from Yahweh, saying, ² “Thus says Yahweh, ‘^(B)Stand in the court of the house of Yahweh, and you shall speak to all the cities of Judah who have ^(C)come to worship in the house of Yahweh ^(D)all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. ^(E)Do not take away a word! ^3 (F)Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that ^(G)I may ^[a]relent of the evil which I am devising to ^[b]bring against them because of the evil of their deeds.’ ⁴ And you will say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “^(H)If you will not listen to Me, to ^(I)walk in My law which I have given before you, ⁵ to listen to the words of ^(J)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 ^(K)Shiloh, and this city I will make a ^(L)curse to all the nations of the earth.”’”

Plot to Murder Jeremiah

⁷ The ^(M)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, “^(N)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 ^(O)laid waste, without inhabitant’?” And ^(P)all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of Yahweh.

¹⁰ When the ^(Q)officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of Yahweh and sat in the ^(R)entrance of the New Gate of the house of Yahweh. ¹¹ Then the priests and the prophets ^(S)spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A ^(T)judgment of death for this man! For he has prophesied ^(U)against this city as you have heard in your hearing.”

¹² Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, “^(V)Yahweh sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. ¹³ So now, ^(W)make good your ways and your deeds and listen to the voice of Yahweh your God; and Yahweh will ^[c]relent of the evil demise which He has spoken against you. ¹⁴ But as for me, behold, ^(X)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 ^(Y)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 ^(Z)said to the priests and to the prophets, “No ^(AA)judgment of death for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of Yahweh our God.” ¹⁷ Then ^(AB)some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying, ¹⁸ “^[d](AC)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 ^(AF)fear Yahweh and entreat the favor of Yahweh, and ^(AG)Yahweh ^[f]relented of the evil demise which He had spoken against them? But we are ^(AH)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 ^(AI)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 ^(AJ)king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard it, and he was afraid and ^(AK)fled and went to Egypt. ²² Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: ^(AL)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 ^(AM)struck him down with a sword and cast his dead body into the ^[g]burial place of the ^[h]common people.

²⁴ But the hand of ^(AN)Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was ^(AO)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 ^[i](AP)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 ^(AQ)bonds and the ^(AR)bars of a yoke and put them on your neck, ³ and you shall send ^[j]word to the king of ^(AS)Edom, to the king of ^(AT)Moab, to the king of the sons of ^(AU)Ammon, to the king of ^(AV)Tyre, and to the king of ^(AW)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 “^(AX)I have made the earth, the men, and the animals which are on the face of the earth ^(AY)by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will ^(AZ)give it to the one who is right in My eyes. ⁶ So now, I ^(BA)have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^(BB)My servant, and I have given him even the ^(BC)wild beasts of the field to serve him. ^7 (BD)All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson ^(BE)until the time of his own land comes; then ^(BF)many nations and great kings will ^[k]make him their servant.

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

¹² I spoke words like all these to ^(BN)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 ^(BO)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 ^(BP)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 ^(BQ)lie to you; ¹⁵ for ^(BR)I have not sent them,” declares Yahweh, “but they ^(BS)prophesy a lie in My name, in order that I may ^(BT)banish you and that you may perish, ^(BU)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 ^(BV)vessels of the house of Yahweh will now shortly be returned from Babylon’; for they are prophesying a ^(BW)lie to you. ¹⁷ Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city ^(BX)become a waste place? ¹⁸ But ^(BY)if they are prophets, and if the word of Yahweh is with them, let them now ^(BZ)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 ^(CA)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 ^(CB)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 ^(CC)brought to Babylon, and they will be there until the ^(CD)day I ^[n]visit them,’ declares Yahweh. ‘Then I will ^(CE)bring them up and return them to this place.’”

Hananiah’s Rebellion Against Yahweh

28 Now it happened in the same year, ^(CF)in the beginning of the reign of ^(CG)Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that ^(CH)Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was from ^(CI)Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of Yahweh in the sight of the priests and all the people, saying, ² “^(CJ)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 ^(CK)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 ^(CL)also going to return to this place ^(CM)Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the ^(CN)exiles of Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares Yahweh, ‘for I will break the ^(CO)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 ^(CP)house of Yahweh, ⁶ and the prophet Jeremiah said, “^(CQ)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 ^(CR)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 ^(CS)prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of calamity and of pestilence. ⁹ The prophet who prophesies of peace, ^(CT)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 ^(CU)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, “^(CV)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 ^(CW)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 ^(CX)bars of a yoke made of iron.” ¹⁴ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “I have put a ^(CY)yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will ^(CZ)serve him. And ^(DA)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 ^(DB)you have made this people trust in a lie. ¹⁶ Therefore thus says Yahweh, ‘^(DC)Behold, I am about to ^[o]remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to ^(DD)die because you have ^(DE)spoken rebellion against Yahweh.’”

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

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles

29 Now these are the words of the ^(DF)letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ² (This was after King ^(DG)Jeconiah and the ^(DH)queen mother, the court officials, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had gone out from Jerusalem.) ³ The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of ^(DI)Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, ⁴ “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have ^(DJ)sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ⁵ ‘^(DK)Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their fruit. ⁶ Take ^(DL)wives and ^[p]become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. ^7 (DM)Seek the peace of the city where I have sent you into exile, and ^(DN)pray to Yahweh on its behalf; for in its peace you will have peace.’ ⁸ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your ^(DO)prophets who are in your midst and your diviners ^(DP)deceive you, and do not listen to ^(DQ)your dreams which you dream. ⁹ For they ^(DR)prophesy a lie to you in My name; ^(DS)I have not sent them,’ declares Yahweh.

¹⁰ “For thus says Yahweh, ‘When ^(DT)seventy years have been fulfilled for Babylon, I will ^[q]visit you and establish My ^(DU)good word to you, to return you to this place. ¹¹ For I know the ^(DV)plans that I ^[r]have for you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘plans for ^(DW)peace and not for calamity, to give you a future and a ^(DX)hope. ¹² Then you will ^(DY)call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will ^(DZ)listen to you. ¹³ You will ^(EA)seek Me and find Me when you ^(EB)search for Me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be ^(EC)found by you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will ^[s](ED)return your ^[t]fortunes and will ^(EE)gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have banished you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will ^(EF)cause you to return to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

¹⁵ “Because you have said, ‘Yahweh has raised up ^(EG)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 brothers who did ^(EH)not go with you into exile— ¹⁷ thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Behold, I am sending upon them the ^(EI)sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like ^(EJ)split-open figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness. ¹⁸ I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I will ^(EK)give them over to be a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a ^(EL)curse and an object of horror and of ^(EM)hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have banished them, ¹⁹ because they have ^(EN)not listened to My words,’ declares Yahweh, ‘which I sent to them by ^(EO)My slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending; but you did not listen,’ declares Yahweh. ²⁰ You, therefore, hear the word of Yahweh, all you exiles, whom I have ^(EP)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 ^(EQ)prophesying to you falsely in My name, ‘Behold, I will give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will strike them down before your eyes. ²² And because of them a ^(ER)curse will be ^[u]used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon ^(ES)roasted in the fire ²³ because they have ^(ET)acted with wicked foolishness in Israel and ^(EU)have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have ^(EV)spoken words in My name falsely, which I did not command them; and I am He who ^(EW)knows and am a witness,” declares Yahweh.’”

²⁴ And to ^(EX)Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying, ²⁵ “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have sent ^(EY)letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem and to ^(EZ)Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶ “Yahweh has given you to be a priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the ^[v](FA)overseer in the house of Yahweh over every ^(FB)madman who ^(FC)prophesies, to ^(FD)put him in the stocks and in the iron collar, ²⁷ so now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of ^(FE)Anathoth who prophesies to you? ²⁸ For he has ^(FF)sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘The exile will be ^(FG)long; ^(FH)build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’”’”

^29 (FI)So Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰ Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah, saying, ³¹ “Send to ^(FJ)all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh concerning ^(FK)Shemaiah the Nehelamite, “Because Shemaiah has ^(FL)prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has ^(FM)made you trust in a lie,” ³² therefore thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am about to ^(FN)punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his seed; he will ^(FO)not have anyone living among this people, ^(FP)and he will not see the good that I am about to do to My people,” declares Yahweh, “because he has ^(FQ)spoken rebellion against Yahweh.”’”