Historical

26 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from Yahweh: ² “Yahweh says: ‘Stand in the court of Yahweh’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah which come to worship in Yahweh’s house, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Don’t omit a word. ³ It may be they will listen, and every man turn from his evil way, that I may relent from the evil which I intend to do to them because of the evil of their doings.’” ⁴ You shall tell them, “Yahweh says: ‘If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law which I have set before you, ⁵ to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you, even rising up early and sending them—but you have not listened— ⁶ then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.’”

⁷ The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in Yahweh’s house. ⁸ When Jeremiah had 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, “You shall surely die! ⁹ Why have you prophesied in Yahweh’s name, saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh, and this city will be desolate, without inhabitant’?” All the people were crowded around Jeremiah in Yahweh’s house.

¹⁰ When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to Yahweh’s house; and they sat in the entry of the new gate of Yahweh’s house. ¹¹ Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and to all the people, saying, “This man is worthy of death, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.”

¹² Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and to all the people, saying, “Yahweh sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. ¹³ Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey Yahweh your God’s voice; then Yahweh will relent from the evil that he has pronounced against you. ¹⁴ But as for me, behold, I am in your hand. Do with me what is good and right in your eyes. ¹⁵ Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for in truth Yahweh has sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

¹⁶ Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets: “This man is not worthy of death; for he has spoken to us in the name of Yahweh our God.”

¹⁷ Then certain of the elders of the land rose up, and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying, ¹⁸ “Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says:

¹⁹ Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Didn’t he fear Yahweh, and entreat the favor of Yahweh, and Yahweh relented of the disaster which he had pronounced against them? We would commit great evil against our own souls that way!”

²⁰ There was also a man who prophesied in Yahweh’s name, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath Jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah. ²¹ When Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Uriah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt. ²² Then Jehoiakim the king sent Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him into Egypt. ²³ They fetched Uriah out of Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.

²⁴ But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they didn’t give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

27 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, ² Yahweh says to me: “Make bonds and bars, and put them on your neck. ³ Then send them to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the children of Ammon, to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. ⁴ Give them a command to their masters, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says, “You shall tell your masters: ⁵ ‘I have made the earth, the men, and the animals that are on the surface of the earth by my great power and by my outstretched arm. I give it to whom it seems right to me. ⁶ Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant. I have also given the animals of the field to him to serve him. ⁷ All the nations will serve him, his son, and his son’s son, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings will make him their bondservant.

⁸ “‘“‘It will happen that I will punish the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon,’ says Yahweh, ‘with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. ⁹ But as for you, don’t listen to your prophets, to your diviners, to your dreams, to your soothsayers, or to your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon;” ¹⁰ for they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land, so that I would drive you out, and you would perish. ¹¹ But the nation that brings their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, that nation I will let remain in their own land,’ says Yahweh; ‘and they will till it and dwell in it.’”’”

¹² I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. ¹³ Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Yahweh has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴ Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon;’ for they prophesy a lie to you. ¹⁵ For I have not sent them,” says Yahweh, “but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

¹⁶ Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, Yahweh says, “Don’t listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of Yahweh’s house will now shortly be brought again from Babylon;’ for they prophesy a lie to you. ¹⁷ Don’t listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and live. Why should this city become a desolation? ¹⁸ But if they are prophets, and if Yahweh’s word is with them, let them now make intercession to Yahweh of Armies, that the vessels which are left in Yahweh’s house, in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, don’t go to Babylon. ¹⁹ For Yahweh of Armies says concerning the pillars, concerning the sea, concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, ²⁰ which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn’t 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 yes, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says concerning the vessels that are left in Yahweh’s house, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem: ²² ‘They will be carried to Babylon, and there they will be, until the day that I visit them,’ says Yahweh; ‘then I will bring them up, and restore them to this place.’”

28 That same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in Yahweh’s house, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, ² “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘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 Yahweh’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. ⁴ I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, who went to Babylon,’ says Yahweh; ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

⁵ Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people who stood in Yahweh’s house, ⁶ even the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May Yahweh do so. May Yahweh perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of Yahweh’s house, and all those who are captives, from Babylon to this place. ⁷ Nevertheless listen now to this word that I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people: ⁸ The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, of evil, and of pestilence. ⁹ As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet happens, then the prophet will be known, that Yahweh has truly sent him.”

¹⁰ Then Hananiah the prophet took the bar from off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, and broke it. ¹¹ Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Yahweh says: ‘Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from off the neck of all the nations within two full years.’” Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

¹² Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ “Go, and tell Hananiah, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “You have broken the bars of wood, but you have made in their place bars of iron.” ¹⁴ For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says, “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they will serve him. I have also given him the animals of the field.”’”

¹⁵ Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! Yahweh has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. ¹⁶ Therefore Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will send you away from off the surface of the earth. This year you will die, because you have spoken rebellion against Yahweh.’”

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 to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, ² (after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had 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 to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon). It said:

⁴ Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵ “Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. ⁶ Take wives and father sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, and don’t be diminished. ⁷ Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you will have peace.” ⁸ For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you. Don’t listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. ⁹ For they prophesy falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them,” says Yahweh. ¹⁰ For Yahweh says, “After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. ¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. ¹² You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You shall seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” says Yahweh, “and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you,” says Yahweh. “I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.”

¹⁵ Because you have said, “Yahweh has raised us up prophets in Babylon,” ¹⁶ Yahweh says concerning the king who sits on David’s throne, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who haven’t gone with you into captivity, ¹⁷ Yahweh of Armies says: “Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that can’t be eaten, they are so bad. ¹⁸ I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of horror, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, ¹⁹ because they have not listened to my words,” says Yahweh, “with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear,” says Yahweh.

²⁰ Hear therefore Yahweh’s word, all you captives whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²¹ Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: “Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he will kill them before your eyes. ²² A curse will be taken up about them by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;’ ²³ because they have done foolish things in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didn’t command them. I am he who knows, and am witness,” says Yahweh.

²⁴ Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying, ²⁵ “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶ “Yahweh has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in Yahweh’s house, for every man who is crazy and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles. ²⁷ Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you, ²⁸ because he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, The captivity is long. Build houses, and dwell in them. Plant gardens, and eat their fruit?”’”

²⁹ Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰ Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying, ³¹ “Send to all of the captives, saying, ‘Yahweh says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn’t send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie,” ³² therefore Yahweh says, “Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his offspring. He will not have a man to dwell among this people. He won’t see the good that I will do to my people,” says Yahweh, “because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.”’”