A Promise of Hope

33 While Jeremiah was still shut up in the open space of the prison, the Word of the Lord came to him a second time, saying, ² “This is what the Lord says Who made the earth. The Lord made it to last. The Lord is His name. ³ ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you. And I will show you great and wonderful things which you do not know.’ ⁴ For this is what the Lord God of Israel says about the houses of this city and about the houses of the kings of Judah which have been torn down to make a strong wall to help in the battle against the Babylonians. ⁵ Some will come to fight with the Babylonians, and they will fill the houses with the dead bodies of men whom I have killed in My anger. I will hide My face from this city because of all their sin. ⁶ See, I will make it well again, and I will heal them. I will let them have much peace and truth. ⁷ I will return the land to Judah and to Israel, and I will help them to become as they were before. ⁸ I will make them clean from all the sins they have done against Me. I will forgive all their sins against Me. ⁹ This city will make My name known. It will be to Me joy, praise and shining-greatness before all the nations of the earth that hear of all the good that I do for them. And they will fear and shake because of all the good and all the peace that I give it.’

¹⁰ “This is what the Lord says: ‘You say of this place, “It is a waste, without man or animal.” Yet in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are laid waste, with no man or animal living in them, there will again be heard ¹¹ the voice of joy and the voice of happiness. In this place will be heard the voice of the man to be married and the voice of the bride, and the voice of those who say, “Give thanks to the Lord of All, for the Lord is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever.” And here will be heard the voice of those who bring a gift of thanks into the house of the Lord. For I will bring them back to the land as they were before,’ says the Lord.

¹² “The Lord of All says, ‘This place is now a waste, without man or animal. Yet there will again be shepherds living in this place and in all its cities who can care for their sheep. ¹³ In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the valley, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the land around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who numbers them,’ says the Lord.

¹⁴ ‘See, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will do what I promised to the people of Israel and the people of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause a right and good Branch of David to rise up. And He will do what is fair and right and good on the earth. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will be safe. And this is the name it will be called: The Lord makes us right and good.’ ¹⁷ For the Lord says, ‘David will never be without a man to sit on the throne of the people of Israel. ¹⁸ And the Levite religious leaders will never be without a man before Me to give burnt gifts, to burn grain gifts, and to make gifts ready on the altar all the time.’”

¹⁹ The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁰ “This is what the Lord says: ‘If you can break My agreement with the day and night, so that day and night will not come at their set time, ²¹ then My agreement may also be broken with David My servant, that he will not have a son to rule on his throne. And then My agreement may be broken with My servants, the Levite religious leaders. ²² The stars of heaven cannot be numbered, and the sand of the sea cannot be weighed. In the same way I will make the children of David My servant many, as well as the Levites who serve Me.’”

²³ The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁴ “Have you not heard what these people are saying? They say, ‘The Lord has turned away from the two families He had chosen.’ So they hate My people. They are no longer a nation in their eyes. ²⁵ This is what the Lord says: ‘If I do not keep My agreement with day and night and the laws of heaven and earth, ²⁶ then I will turn away from the children of Jacob and David My servant. Then I will not choose one of his children to rule over the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will bring them back to their land and will have loving-pity on them.’”

God Speaks to Zedekiah

34 This is the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the nations of the earth that were under his rule, and all the people, were fighting against Jerusalem and all its cities: ² “The Lord God of Israel says, ‘Go and say to Zedekiah king of Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘See, I am giving this city to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire. ³ And you will not get away from him. You will be taken and given into his hand. You will see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon.’”’ ⁴ Yet hear the Word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! The Lord says this about you: ‘You will not die by the sword. ⁵ You will die in peace. And as spices were burned for your fathers, the kings who were before you, so they will burn spices for you and cry in sorrow for you, “It is bad, lord!”’ I Myself have said this,” says the Lord.

⁶ Then Jeremiah the man of God told all this to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem, ⁷ when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the cities that were left of Judah. These cities were Lachish and Azekah. They were the only strong cities left in Judah that were ready for war.

Servants Were to Be Free

⁸ This is the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made an agreement to set free ⁹ their Hebrew male and female servants so that no one would have a Hebrew servant work for him. ¹⁰ And all the leaders and all the people obeyed, who had joined in the agreement that every man should set his male and female servants free. No one was to keep them working any longer for him. So they obeyed and set them free. ¹¹ But after this they turned around and took back the male and female servants whom they had set free. They brought them back and made them work for them again as male and female servants.

¹² Then the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I made an agreement with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house where they were made to work. I said to them, ¹⁴ “At the end of seven years each of you must set free his Hebrew brother, who has been sold to you and has served you for six years. You must send him away from you as a free man.” But your fathers did not obey Me, or listen to Me. ¹⁵ Not long ago you had turned and done what is right in My eyes. Each man told his neighbor that he was free. And you had made an agreement before Me in the house which is called by My name. ¹⁶ Yet you turned and sinned against My name. Each man took back his male and female servant whom you had set free to go where they wished. And you brought them under your power again to be your male and female servants.’

¹⁷ “So the Lord says, ‘You have not obeyed Me. Each man has not set his brother or his neighbor free. So I am letting you free,’ says the Lord, ‘free to fall by the sword, by disease, and by hunger. I will cause you to be hated and feared by all the nations of the earth. ¹⁸ I will take the men who have sinned against My agreement, who have not kept the words of the agreement they made before Me when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts. ¹⁹ I will take these leaders of Judah, and leaders of Jerusalem, the king’s servants, the religious leaders, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. ²⁰ And I will give them over to those who hate them and to those who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth. ²¹ I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his captains over to those who hate them and to those who want to kill them. I will give them to the army of the king of Babylon which has left from you. ²² See,’ says the Lord, ‘I will tell them to come back to this city. And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a waste place where no people live.’”

The Rechabites

35 This is the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: ² “Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them. Then bring them to one of the rooms of the house of the Lord, and give them wine to drink.” ³ So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons, and all those of the Rechabite family. ⁴ And I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, the man of God. This room was near the room of the leaders and above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the doorkeeper. ⁵ Then I set jars full of wine and some cups in front of the men of the Rechabite family. And I said to them, “Drink wine.” ⁶ But they said, “We will not drink wine. For Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, told us, ‘You and your sons must never drink wine. ⁷ You must never build a house. You must never plant seeds. And you must never plant a grape-field or own one. But you must always live in tents. Then you will live many days in the land where you have come to.’ ⁸ We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he told us. We, our wives, our sons, and our daughters, never drink wine. ⁹ We have never built houses to live in, and we do not have grape-fields or fields or seeds to plant. ¹⁰ We have only lived in tents. We have obeyed, and have done all that our father Jonadab told us. ¹¹ But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come and let us go to Jerusalem to get away from the armies of the Chaldeans and the Syrians.’ So we are living in Jerusalem.”

¹² Then the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ “This is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says: ‘Go and say to the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem, “Will you not learn by listening to My words?” says the Lord. ¹⁴ “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, telling his sons not to drink wine, are obeyed. They do not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father. But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not listened to Me. ¹⁵ And again and again I have sent you all My servants who spoke for Me, saying, ‘Everyone turn now from your sinful way, and do what I tell you to do. Do not go after other gods to worship them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and to your fathers before you. But you have not turned your ear to listen to Me. ¹⁶ The sons of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have obeyed what their father told them, but these people have not listened to Me.’”’ ¹⁷ So the Lord, the God of All, the God of Israel, says, ‘I am bringing on Judah and on all the people of Jerusalem all the trouble I have said would come upon them. For I spoke to them but they did not listen. I have called them but they did not answer.’”

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to those of the Rechabite family, “This is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed everything that Jonadab your father told you to do. ¹⁹ And so the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, “Jonadab the son of Rechab will never be without a man to stand before Me.”’”

Baruch Reads the Book in the House of God

36 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ² “Take a book and write in it all the words which I have said to you about Israel, Judah, and all the nations. Write all I have said since the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. ³ It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the trouble I am planning to bring on them, so that everyone will turn from his sinful way. Then I will forgive their wrong-doing and their sin.”

⁴ So Jeremiah called Baruch, the son of Neriah. And Baruch wrote in the book all the words which Jeremiah told him that the Lord had said to him. ⁵ Then Jeremiah said to Baruch, “I am shut up here and cannot go into the house of the Lord. ⁶ So you go to the Lord’s house on the special day of no food, and read to the people the words of the Lord which you have written down as I told them to you. And also read them to all the people of Judah who come from their cities. ⁷ It may be that their prayer will come before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his sinful way. For the punishment that the Lord said would come to these people because of His anger is very bad.” ⁸ Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the man of God told him. He read from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

⁹ In the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, all the people in Jerusalem and all those from the cities of Judah set apart to the Lord a day when they would not eat. ¹⁰ Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah to all the people in the house of the Lord, in the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the writer, in the upper place by the New Gate of the Lord’s house.

The Book Is Read to the Leaders

¹¹ When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the Lord from the book, ¹² he went down to the king’s house, into the writer’s room. And he saw that all the leaders were sitting there. There was Elishama the writer, 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 leaders. ¹³ And Micaiah told them all that he had heard Baruch read to the people from the book. ¹⁴ Then all the leaders sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take the book you have read to the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the book in his hand and went to them. ¹⁵ They told him, “Sit down and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them. ¹⁶ When they had heard all the words, they turned in fear to one another and said to Baruch, “For sure we will tell all these words to the king.” ¹⁷ And they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you write all this? Did Jeremiah tell it to you?” ¹⁸ Baruch said to them, “He told me all these words, and I wrote them down in the book.” ¹⁹ Then the leaders said to Baruch, “Go and hide, both you and Jeremiah. And do not let anyone know where you are.”

The King Burns Jeremiah’s Book

²⁰ So they went to the king in the open space, but they had put the book in the room of Elishama the writer. And they told all the words to the king. ²¹ Then the king sent Jehudi to get the book, and he took it out of the room of Elishama the writer. And Jehudi read it to the king and to all the leaders who stood beside him. ²² It was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house with a fire burning in the fireplace in front of him. ²³ When Jehudi had read three or four parts, the king cut them with a small knife and threw them into the fire in the fireplace. He did this until the book was destroyed in the fire. ²⁴ The king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, and they did not tear their clothes. ²⁵ Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the book, but he would not listen to them. ²⁶ And the king told Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to take hold of Baruch the writer and Jeremiah the man of God. But the Lord had hidden them.

Jeremiah Writes Another Book

²⁷ Now the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the book with the words Jeremiah had told Baruch to write down. The Lord said, ²⁸ “Take another book and write in it all the words that were in the first book which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned. ²⁹ And about Jehoiakim the king of Judah you will say, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You have burned this book, saying, ‘Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will be sure to come and destroy this land and put an end to every man and animal in it?’” ³⁰ So this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: “He will have no one to sit on the throne of David. And his dead body will be thrown out to the heat of the day and the cold of the night. ³¹ I will punish him and his children and his servants for their sin. And I will bring on them and the people of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the trouble that I have said would come to them, because they would not listen.”’” ³² Then Jeremiah took another book and gave it to Baruch the son of Neraiah, the writer. And as Jeremiah told them to him, he wrote down all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many words of the same kind were added to them.