Old/New Testament
27 ¶ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Thus hath the LORD said unto me: Make thee bonds and yokes and put them upon thy neck;
3 and thou shalt send them to the king of Edom and to the king of Moab and to the king of the Ammonites and to the king of Tyre and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the ambassadors which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
4 and thou shalt command them to say unto their masters, Thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel said; Thus shall ye say unto your masters:
5 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom was upright in my eyes.
6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my slave; and even the beasts of the field I have given him that they might serve him.
7 And all the Gentiles shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, until the time of his own land shall come also; and many nations and great kings shall serve him.
8 And it shall come to pass, that the people and the kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that people I will visit, saith the LORD, with the sword and with the famine and with the pestilence, until I have finished placing all of them under his hand.
9 Therefore do not hearken unto your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your sorcerers, nor to your enchanters, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
10 For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
11 But the people that submit their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, said the LORD; and they shall till it and dwell therein.
12 ¶ I spoke also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Submit your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people and live.
13 Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD has spoken unto the people that will not serve the king of Babylon?
14 Therefore do not hearken unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.
15 For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.
16 Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus hath the LORD said: Hearken not unto the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD’s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.
17 Hearken not unto 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 pray now unto the LORD of the hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD and in the house of the king of Judah and at Jerusalem, not go to Babylon.
19 For thus hath the LORD of the hosts said concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,
20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;
21 yea, thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said concerning the vessels that remained in the house of the LORD and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem;
22 they shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I visit them, said the LORD; and afterwards I will bring them up and restore them to this place.
28 ¶ And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spoke unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
2 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel spoken, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
3 Within two full years I will bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried them to Babylon:
4 and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the LORD; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the LORD,
6 therefore the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the LORD do so: the LORD confirm thy words with which thou hast prophesied that the vessels of the LORD’s house and all those that are carried away captive are to be returned from Babylon unto this place.
7 Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears and in the ears of all the people,
8 The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
9 The prophet which prophesied of peace, when the word of the prophet should come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD has truly sent him.
10 ¶ Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it.
11 And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus hath the LORD said: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the Gentiles within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
12 And after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,
13 Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus hath the LORD said: Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make yokes of iron instead.
14 For thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said: I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these Gentiles, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him; and I have even given him the beasts of the field.
15 Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD has not sent thee; and thou hast made this people to trust in a lie.
16 Therefore thus hath the LORD said; Behold, I will send thee away from upon the face of the earth; this year thou shalt die because thou hast spoken rebellion against the LORD.
17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
29 ¶ Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests and to the prophets and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;
2 (after Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;)
3 by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,
4 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon,
5 Build houses and dwell in them; and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them;
6 take wives and beget sons and daughters; give wives unto your sons and give husbands unto your daughters, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be multiplied there and not diminished.
7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
8 ¶ For thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said: Let not your prophets and your diviners that are in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye dream.
9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, said the LORD.
10 For thus hath the LORD said, That after seventy years are accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and quicken my good word upon you to cause you to return to this place.
11 For I know the thoughts that I think concerning you, said the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you the end that you wait for.
12 Then ye shall call upon me, and ye shall walk in my ways and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, for ye shall seek me with all your heart.
14 And I will be found of you, said the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the Gentiles and from all the places where I have driven you, said the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.
15 ¶ But ye have said, The LORD has raised us up prophets in Babylon;
16 know that thus hath the LORD said of the king that sits upon the throne of David and of all the people that dwell in this city and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;
17 thus hath the LORD of the hosts said: Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence and will make them like the evil figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will give them over as a reproach to all the kingdoms of the earth, as a curse, and as an astonishment, and a hissing, and an affront, unto all the Gentiles where I have driven them:
19 because they did not hearken unto my words, said the LORD, which I sent unto them by my slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye did not hear, said the LORD.
20 Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have cast out of Jerusalem unto Babylon:
21 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said regarding Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and regarding Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy falsely unto you in my name; Behold, I deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;
22 and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
23 because they have committed villainy in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and have spoken a word falsely in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know and am a witness, saith the LORD.
24 ¶ Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
25 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel spoken, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem and to Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah and to all the priests, saying,
26 The LORD has made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should preside in the house of the LORD over every man that is furious and prophesies, putting him in the prison and in the stocks.
27 Now therefore why hast thou not reprehended Jeremiah of Anathoth, for prophesying falsely unto you?
28 For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build houses and dwell in them and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
29 And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
30 Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,
31 Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus hath the LORD said concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah has prophesied unto you, and I did not send him, and he caused you to trust upon a lie;
32 therefore thus hath the LORD said; Behold, I visit upon Shemaiah the Nehelamite and upon his generation: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold that good which I do unto my people, said the LORD, because he has spoken rebellion against the LORD.
3 ¶ Admonish them to be subject to dominion and power, and to persuade those who have authority, that they be quick unto every good work.
2 That they speak evil of no one, that they not be contentious, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men.
3 For we ourselves also were foolish in another time, rebellious, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
6 which he poured out abundantly in us through Jesus, the Christ, our Saviour;
7 that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8 The Word is faithful, and I desire that thou affirm this constantly, that those who have believed God might be careful to conduct themselves in good works. This is good and profitable unto men.
9 ¶ But avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions and debates concerning the law, for they are unprofitable and vain.
10 A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject him,
11 knowing that he that is such is subverted and sins, being condemned of his own judgment.
12 When I shall send Artemas unto thee or Tychicus, procure to come unto me to Nicopolis; for I have determined to winter there.
13 Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on ahead, procuring that nothing be lacking unto them.
14 And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they not be unfruitful.
15 All that are with me salute thee. Greet those that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
Copyright © 2013, 2020 by Ransom Press International