Jeremiah 27-29
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Yoke of Babylon
27 Early in the reign of Zedekiah[a] son of Josiah, king of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from the Lord.
2 This is what the Lord said to me.
Make a yoke and straps and put them on your neck. 3 Then send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, Tyre, and Sidon, through the messengers who came to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give them a message for their masters. Tell them the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says, “Tell your masters: 5 By my great power I made the earth, the people, and the animals that are on it. I give it to anyone I please. 6 Now I will give all these lands to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I will even make the wild animals serve him. 7 All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson, until the time for his own land comes. Then he will serve many nations and great kings.”
8 The Lord also said:
I will punish any nation or kingdom that will not submit to this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, that will not put their necks under the yoke of Babylon’s king. I will punish that nation with sword, famine, and plague, until I have consumed them by his hand. 9 So do not listen to your prophets, to your omen readers, to your dream interpreters, to your mediums, or to those who cast spells for you. Do not listen to those who tell you, “You will not serve the king of Babylon,” 10 because they are prophesying lies to you in order to remove you from your land. I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 But if a nation bows its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will let that nation remain on its own land. They will plow the soil and live on it, declares the Lord.
12 I also said all these things to Zedekiah king of Judah.
Bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and you will live. 13 Why do you and your people want to die by sword, famine, and plague, as the Lord said would come upon any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are telling you not to serve the king of Babylon. They are prophesying a lie to you, 15 for I have not sent them, declares the Lord. They are prophesying falsely in my name, so I will drive you out, and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.
16 I also spoke to the priests and to all of the people.
The Lord says this. Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you that the vessels of the Lord’s house will soon be brought back again from Babylon, because they are prophesying a lie to you. 17 Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a ruin? 18 If they really are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, then let them intercede with the Lord of Armies, so that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, will not go to Babylon. 19 For this is what the Lord of Armies says about the pillars, the Sea, the carts for water, and the rest of the vessels that are left in the city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had not taken away when he exiled Jeconiah[b] son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21 yes, this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says concerning the vessels that are still in the house of the Lord and in the house of the king of Judah in Jerusalem: 22 They will be taken to Babylon, and there they will remain until the day I come for them, declares the Lord. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.
The False Prophet Hananiah
28 That same year, in the fifth month of the fourth year (early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah), the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the House of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people. He said, 2 “The Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says this. I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 When two full years have passed, I will bring back all the vessels of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried off to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back Jeconiah[c] son of Jehoiakim king of Judah along with all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon, declares the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the House of the Lord. 6 He said, “Amen! May the Lord do that! May the Lord fulfill the words you have prophesied and bring back the vessels of the Lord’s house, and may he bring all the exiles back from Babylon to this place. 7 Nevertheless, listen now to what I have to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets from ancient times, who came before you and me, prophesied war, famine,[d] and plague against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace, only when the word of the prophet actually comes true will that prophet become known as someone whom the Lord has truly sent.”
10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. 11 In the presence of all the people, Hananiah said, “This is what the Lord says. This is how I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from off the neck of all the nations within two full years.” So the prophet Jeremiah went on his way.
12 After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Go and tell Hananiah that this is what the Lord says. You have broken a wooden yoke, but in its place you will receive an iron yoke. 14 For the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says, I will put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations so that they will serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Yes, they will certainly serve him. I have even given him the wild animals.”
15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you are making this people trust in a lie. 16 Therefore this is what the Lord says. Watch, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you will die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.”
17 In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died.
A Letter to the Exiles
29 This is the text of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remnant of the elders in exile, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This was after Jeconiah,[e] the queen mother, the secretaries, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalworkers had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) 3 The letter was delivered by Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemaraiah son of Hilkiah when Zedekiah king of Judah sent them to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The letter said:
4 The Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says this to all the exiles whom I have deported from Jerusalem to Babylon.
5 Build houses and settle in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6 Get married and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there, and do not decrease in number. 7 Seek the peace of the city where I have exiled you. Pray to the Lord for that city, because when it has peace and prosperity, you will have peace and prosperity.
8 The Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says this. Do not let the prophets and fortune tellers who are among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams they dream for you. 9 For they prophesy falsely in my name, but I did not send them, declares the Lord.
10 This is what the Lord says. After seventy years have passed in Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious word to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to give you peace, not disaster, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come to pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 When you seek me, you will find me, when you will seek me with all your heart. 14 I will let you find me, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back from your exile. I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have sent you as exiles, declares the Lord. I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
15 Because you say, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,” 16 this is what the Lord says concerning the king who sits on David’s throne and concerning all the people who remain in this city, your brothers who were not carried away into exile with you. 17 Yes, this is what the Lord says. Watch, I am going to send sword, famine, and plague against them, and I will make them like rotten figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with sword, famine, and plague, and I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse, a terror, a thing to be hissed at, and a disgrace among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they have not obeyed my words, declares the Lord, words I sent them again and again through my servants the prophets. And you have not listened, either, declares the Lord.
Two Men Roasted in the Fire
20 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21 The Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says this about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Ma’aseiah, who are prophesying a lie in my name: Watch, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your eyes. 22 All the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse because of them:
May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and like Ahab,
whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire.
23 This is because they have done sinful things in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbor’s wives, and they have spoken lies in my name, things I did not tell them to do. I am the one who knows. I am the witness, declares the Lord.
The Lord’s Response to Shemaiah’s Letter
24 Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite 25 that this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says.
You have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, to Zephaniah son of Ma’aseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, and you told them the following:
26 The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there will be officers[f] in the Lord’s house who can deal with every crazy man who calls himself a prophet. You should put him in the stocks and in shackles. 27 So why have you not rebuked Jeremiah from Anathoth, who makes himself out to be a prophet among you?
28 Jeremiah sent this message to us in Babylon: It will be a long time. Build houses and settle in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit.
29 Zephaniah the priest read this letter so that Jeremiah the prophet could hear the reading.
30 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
31 Send the following message to all the exiles.
This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, but I did not send him, and he has led you to trust in a lie, 32 the Lord says this. Watch, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left to live among this people. He will never see the good things I will do for my people, declares the Lord, because he has preached rebellion against the Lord.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 27:1 The Hebrew reads Jehoiakim. The translation follows an alternate Hebrew reading. See also verse 3 and 28:1.
- Jeremiah 27:20 That is, Jehoiachin
- Jeremiah 28:4 That is, Jehoiachin
- Jeremiah 28:8 The translation follows an alternate Hebrew reading. The main Hebrew text reads disaster.
- Jeremiah 29:2 That is, Jehoiachin
- Jeremiah 29:26 Or an officer
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.