The Superscription
1:1The following is a record of what Jeremiah son of Hilkiah prophesied and did.1 He was one of the priests who lived at Anathoth in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. 1:2 The LORD2 began to speak to him3 in the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon ruled over Judah. 1:3 The LORD also spoke to him during the time Jehoiakim son of Josiah ruled over Judah, and he continued to speak to him until the fifth month of the eleventh year4 that Zedekiah son of Josiah ruled over Judah. That was when the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile.5
Jeremiah's Call and Commission
1:4 The LORD said to me,
1:6 I answered, "Oh, Lord GOD,8 I really9 do not know how to speak well enough for that,10 for I am too young."11 1:7 The LORD said to me, "Do not say, `I am too young.' But go12 to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 1:8 Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you,13 for I will be with you to rescue you," says the LORD. 1:9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me.14 1:10 Know for certain that15 I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be16 uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted."17
Visions Confirming Jeremiah's Call and Commission
1:11 Later the LORD spoke to me and asked me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I answered, "I see a branch of an almond tree." 1:12 Then the LORD said to me, "You have observed correctly. This means18 I am watching to make sure my threats are carried out."19
1:13 The LORD spoke to me again and asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a pot of boiling water, and it is tipped toward us from the north."20 1:14 Then the LORD said to me, "This means21 destruction will break out from the north on all who live in the land. 1:15 For I will soon call for all the peoples of the kingdoms of the north to come," says the LORD. "They will come and their kings will set up their thrones22 near the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all the walls surrounding it. They will also attack all the towns in Judah.23 1:16 In this way24 I will pass sentence25 on the people of Jerusalem and Judah26 because of all their wickedness. For they left me and offered sacrifices to other gods and worshiped what they made with their own hands."27
1:17 "But you, Jeremiah,28 get ready.29 Go and tell these people everything I instruct you to say. Do not be terrified of them, or I will give you good reason to be terrified in front of them.30 1:18 I, the LORD,31 hereby promise to make you32 as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. That way you will be able to stand up against all who live in33 the whole land, including the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the rest of the people of the land. 1:19 They will attack you but they will not be able to overcome you, for I will be with you to rescue you," says the LORD.
The LORD Recalls Israel's Earlier Faithfulness
2:1 The LORD spoke to me. He said: 2:2 "Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem: `This is what the LORD says: "I remember for your sake1 how devoted you were to me in your early years.2 I remember how you loved me like a new bride and followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted. 2:3 Israel was set apart to the LORD; they were like the first fruits of a harvest to him.3 All who tried to devour them were punished; disaster came upon them," says the LORD.'"
The LORD Reminds Them of the Unfaithfulness of Their Ancestors
The LORD Charges Contemporary Israel with Spiritual Adultery
Israel's Reliance on Foreign Alliances (not on God)
The LORD Expresses His Exasperation at Judah's Persistent Idolatry
3:6 When Josiah was king of Judah, the LORD said to me, "Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel did.11 You have seen how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods.12 3:7 Yet even after she had done all that, I thought that she would come back to me. But she did not. Her sister, unfaithful Judah, saw what she did.13 3:8 She also saw14 that I gave wayward Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous worship of other gods.15 Even after her unfaithful sister, Judah, had seen this,16 she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods.17 3:9 And, because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the land18 through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone.19 3:10 Yes, through all this,20 Israel's sister, unfaithful Judah, has not turned back to me with any sincerity; she has only pretended to do so,"21 says the LORD. 3:11 Then the LORD said to me, "Under the circumstances, wayward Israel could even be considered less guilty than unfaithful Judah.22
The LORD Calls on Israel and Judah to Repent
3:12 "Go out and shout this message toward my people in the countries in the north.23 Tell them,
3:15 "`And I will give you leaders30 who will be faithful to me.31 They will lead you with knowledge and insight. 3:16 In those days, your population will greatly increase32 in the land. At that time,' says the LORD, `people will no longer talk about having the ark33 that contains the LORD's agreement with us.34 They will not call it to mind, or remember it, or miss it. No, that will not be done any more!35 3:17 At that time the city of Jerusalem will be called the LORD's throne. All nations will gather there in Jerusalem to honor the LORD's name.36 They will no longer follow the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts.37 3:18 At that time38 the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be reunited.39 Together they will come back from a land in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent possession.'40
Warning of Coming Judgment
4:5 The LORD said,11
(4:10 In response to all this20 I said, "Ah, Lord GOD,21 you have surely deceived the people of Judah and Jerusalem.22 You have said, `You will be safe.'23 But in fact a sword is already at our throats.")24
4:19 I said,49
4:22 The LORD answered,59
Judah is Justly Deserving of Coming Judgment
5:7 The LORD asked,22
says the LORD.
5:14 Because of that,39 the LORD, the God who rules over all,40 said to me,41
5:18 Yet even then52 I will not completely destroy you," says the LORD. 5:19 "So then, Jeremiah,53 when your people54 ask, `Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' tell them, `It is because you left me and served foreign gods in your own land. So55 you will have to serve strangers56 in a land that does not belong to you.'
The Destruction of Jerusalem Depicted
6:9 This is what the LORD who rules over all22 said to me:23
6:10 I answered,26
The LORD answered,32
says the LORD.
says the LORD.
6:16 The LORD said to his people:39
6:17 The LORD said,43
6:18 So the LORD said,46
6:27 The LORD said to me,67
6:28 And I reported,70
Faulty Religion and Unethical Behavior Will Lead to Judgment
7:1 The LORD said to Jeremiah:1 7:2 "Stand in the gate of the LORD's temple and proclaim2 this message: `Listen, all you people of Judah who have passed through these gates to worship the LORD.3 Hear what the LORD has to say. 7:3 The LORD God of Israel who rules over all4 says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right.5 If you do, I will let you continue to live in this land.6 7:4 Stop putting your confidence in the delusive belief that says,7 "We are safe!8 The temple of the LORD is here! The temple of the LORD is here! The temple of the LORD is here!"9 7:5 You must change10 the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly.11 7:6 Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. Stop killing innocent people12 in this land. Stop paying allegiance to13 other gods. That will only bring about your ruin.14 7:7 If you do all this,15 I will let you continue to live here in this land16 which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession.17
7:8 "`But just look at you!18 You are putting your confidence in a false way of thinking19 that will not help you at all. 7:9 You steal. You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to20 other gods that you do not really know. 7:10 Then you come and stand here in my presence in this house I have claimed as my own21 and say, "We are safe!" You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins!22 7:11 Do you think this house I have claimed as my own23 is to be a hideout for robbers?24 You had better take note!25 I have seen for myself what you have done! says the LORD. 7:12 So, go to the place in Shiloh where I allowed myself to be worshiped26 in the early days. See what I did to it27 because of the wicked things my people Israel did then. 7:13 You have done all these things, says the LORD, and I have spoken to you over and over again.28 But you have not listened. You have refused to respond when I called you to repent.29 7:14 So I will destroy this house which I have claimed as my own,30 this temple that you are trusting to protect you. I will destroy this place that I gave to you and your ancestors31 just like I destroyed Shiloh.32 7:15 And I will drive you out of my sight just like I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel.'"33
7:16 Then the LORD said to me,34 "Do not pray for these people. Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf. Do not plead with me to save them,35 because I will not listen to you. 7:17 Don't you see36 what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 7:18 The children are gathering firewood. The fathers are building fires with it. And the women are mixing dough to bake cakes to offer to the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven.37 They are also pouring out drink offerings to other gods. They seem to do all this just38 to grieve me. 7:19 But am I really the one being grieved?" says the LORD. "Are they not rather bringing grief on themselves39 to their own shame? 7:20 So," the Lord GOD40 says, "my raging fury will be poured out on this land.41 It will be poured out on human beings and animals, on trees and crops.42 And it will burn like a fire which cannot be put out."
7:21 The LORD also said to the people of Judah,43 "The LORD God of Israel who rules over all44 says: `You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too!45 7:22 Consider this:46 When I spoke to your ancestors after I brought them out of Egypt, I did not merely give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices. 7:23 I also explicitly commanded them:47 "Obey me. If you do, I48 will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you49 and things will go well with you." 7:24 But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They got worse and worse instead of getting better.50 7:25 From the time your ancestors left the land of Egypt until now,51 I sent my servants the prophets to you again and again,52 day after day.53 7:26 But your ancestors54 did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They became obstinate55 and were more wicked than even their ancestors.'"
7:27 Then the LORD said to me,56 "When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not respond to you. 7:28 So tell them: `This is a nation that has not obeyed the LORD their God and has not accepted correction. Faithfulness is nowhere to be found in it. These people do not even profess it anymore.57 7:29 So, mourn,58 you people of this nation.59 Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the hilltops. For the LORD has decided to reject60 and forsake this generation that has provoked his wrath.'"61
7:30 The LORD says, "I have rejected them because62 the people of Judah have done what I consider evil.63 They have set up their disgusting idols in the house64 which I have claimed for my own65 and have defiled it. 7:31 They have also built places of worship66 in a place called Topheth67 in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do. Indeed it never even entered my mind. 7:32 So, watch out!"68 says the LORD. "The time will soon come when people will no longer call those places Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom. But they will call that valley69 the Valley of Slaughter and they will bury so many people in Topheth they will run out of room.70 7:33 Then the dead bodies of these people will be left on the ground for the birds and wild animals to eat.71 And there won't be anyone left to scare them away. 7:34 I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms, throughout the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. That is because the whole land will become a desolate wasteland."
8:1 The LORD says, "When that time comes,1 the bones of the kings of Judah and its leaders, the bones of the priests and prophets and of all the other people who lived in Jerusalem will be dug up from their graves. 8:2 They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon, and the stars.2 These are things they3 adored and served, things that they paid allegiance to,4 sought guidance from, and worshiped. The bones of these people5 will never be gathered back up and reburied. They will be like manure that is used to fertilize the ground.6 8:3 However, I will leave some of these wicked people alive and banish them to other places. But wherever these people who are left alive may be, they will wish they had died rather than lived,"7 says the LORD who rules over all.8
Willful Disregard of God Will Lead to Destruction
8:4 The LORD said to me,9
Jeremiah Laments over the Coming Destruction
8:14 The people say,32
8:17 And the LORD says,39
8:18 Then I said,43
The LORD Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them
9:3 The LORD says,7
9:7 Therefore the LORD who rules over all says,17
The Coming Destruction Calls For Mourning
9:10 I said,25
9:11 The LORD said,28
9:12 I said,30
9:13 The LORD answered, "This has happened because these people have rejected my laws which I gave them. They have not obeyed me or followed those laws.33 9:14 Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to34 the gods called Baal, as their fathers35 taught them to do. 9:15 So then, listen to what I--the LORD God of Israel who rules over all36--have to say.37 `I am going to make these people eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment.38 9:16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors39 have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords40 until I have destroyed them.'"41
9:17 The LORD who rules over all42 told me to say to this people,43
9:20 I said,50
9:2356 The LORD says,
says the LORD.
9:25 The LORD says, "Watch out!60 The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh.61 9:26 That is, I will punish the Egyptians, the Judeans, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples.62 I will do so because none of the people of those nations are really circumcised in the LORD's sight.63 Moreover, none of the people of Israel are circumcised when it comes to their hearts, either."64
The LORD, not Idols, is the Only Worthy Object of Worship
10:1 You people of Israel, listen to what the LORD has to say to you. 10:2 The LORD says,
10:6 I said,7
Jeremiah Laments for and Prays for the Soon-to-be-judged People
The People Have Violated Their Agreement with God
11:1 The LORD said to Jeremiah:1 11:2 "Hear2 the terms of the agreement3 I made with Israel4 and pass them on5 to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem.6 11:3 Tell them that the LORD, the God of Israel, says, `Anyone who does not keep the terms of the agreement will be under a curse.7 11:4 Those are the terms that I charged your ancestors8 to keep9 when I brought them out of Egypt, that place which was like an iron-smelting furnace.10 I said at that time,11 "Obey me and carry out the terms of the agreement12 just exactly as I commanded you. If you do,13 you will be my people and I will be your God.14 11:5 Then I will keep the promise I swore on oath to your ancestors and give them a land of fertile fields and fine pastures."15 That is the very land that you still live in today.'"16 And I responded, "Amen! Let it be so,17 LORD!"
11:6 The LORD said to me, "Announce all the following words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: `Listen to the terms of my agreement with you18 and carry them out! 11:7 For I solemnly warned your ancestors to obey me.19 I warned them again and again,20 ever since I delivered them out of Egypt until this very time. 11:8 But they did listen to me or pay any attention to me! Each one of them followed the stubborn inclinations of his own wicked heart. So I brought on them all the punishments threatened in the agreement. I did so because they did not carry out the terms of the agreement as I commanded them to.'"21
11:9 The LORD said to me, "The people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem have plotted rebellion against me!22 11:10 They have gone back to the evil ways23 of their ancestors of old who refused to obey what I told them. They, too, have paid allegiance to24 other gods and worshiped them. Both the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah have violated the agreement I made with their ancestors. 11:11 So, I, the LORD, say this:25 `I will soon bring disaster on them which they will not be able to escape! And when they cry out to me for help, I will not listen to them. 11:12 Then those living in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem will26 go and cry out for help to the gods to whom they have been sacrificing. However, those gods will by no means27 be able to save them when disaster strikes them. 11:13 This is in spite of the fact that28 the people of Judah have as many gods as they have towns29 and the citizens of Jerusalem have set up as many altars to sacrifice to that disgusting god, Baal, as they have streets in the city.'30 11:14 So, Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf. Do not plead with me to save them.31 For I will not listen to them when they call out to me for help when disaster strikes them."32
11:15 The LORD says to33 the people of Judah,
A Plot Against Jeremiah is Revealed and He Complains of Injustice
11:21 Then the LORD spoke to me about57 some men from Anathoth58 who were threatening to kill me. They had threatened,59 "Stop prophesying in the name of the LORD or we will kill you!" 11:22 So the LORD who rules over all60 said, "I will surely61 punish them! Their young men will be killed in battle.62 Their sons and daughters will die of starvation. 11:23 I will bring disaster on those men from Anathoth who threatened you.63 A day of reckoning is coming for them.64 Not a one of them will be left alive."65
12:5 The LORD answered,14
12:14 "I, the LORD, also have something to say concerning43 the wicked nations who surround my land44 and have attacked and plundered45 the land that I gave to my people as a permanent possession.46 I say, `I will uproot the people of those nations from their lands and I will free the people of Judah who have been taken there.47 12:15 But after I have uprooted the people of those nations, I will relent48 and have pity on them. I will restore the people of each of those nations to their own lands49 and to their own country. 12:16 But they must carefully learn to follow the religious practices of my people.50 Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal.51 But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, "As surely as the LORD lives, I swear."52 If they do these things,53 then they will be included among the people I call my own.54 12:17 But I will completely uproot and destroy any of those nations that will not pay heed,'"55 says the LORD.
An Object Lesson from Ruined Linen Shorts
13:1 The LORD said to me, "Go and buy some linen shorts1 and put them on.2 Do not put them in water."3 13:2 So I bought the shorts as the LORD had told me to do4 and put them on.5 13:3 Then the LORD spoke to me again and said,6 13:4 "Take the shorts that you bought and are wearing7 and go at once8 to Perath.9 Bury the shorts there10 in a crack in the rocks." 13:5 So I went and buried them at Perath11 as the LORD had ordered me to do. 13:6 Many days later the LORD said to me, "Go at once to Perath and get12 the shorts I ordered you to bury there." 13:7 So I went to Perath and dug up13 the shorts from the place where I had buried them. I found14 that they were ruined; they were good for nothing.
13:8 Then the LORD said to me,15 13:9 "I, the LORD, say,16 `This shows how17 I will ruin the highly exalted position18 in which Judah and Jerusalem take pride. 13:10 These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said.19 They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance20 to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So21 they will become just like these linen shorts which are good for nothing. 13:11 For,' I say,22 `just as shorts cling tightly to a person's body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah23 tightly24 to me.' I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise.25 But they would not obey me.
13:12 "So tell them,26 `The LORD, the God of Israel, says, "Every wine jar is made to be filled with wine."'27 And they will probably say to you, `Don't you think we know28 that every wine jar is supposed to be filled with wine?' 13:13 Then29 tell them, `The LORD says, "I will soon fill all the people who live in this land with stupor.30 I will also fill the kings from David's dynasty,31 the priests and the prophets, and the citizens of Jerusalem with stupor.32 13:14 And I will smash them like wine bottles against one another, children and parents alike.33 I will not show any pity, mercy, or compassion. Nothing will keep me from destroying them,'34 says the LORD."
13:15 Then I said to the people of Judah,35
13:18 The LORD told me,45
13:20 Then I said,52
13:24 "The LORD says,66
A Lament over the Ravages of Drought74
14:1 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah about the drought.1 He said:2
14:7 Then I said,11
14:10 Then the LORD spoke about these people.20 He said:
Judgment for Believing the Misleading Lies of the False Prophets
14:11 Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for good to come to these people.25 14:12 Even if they fast, I will not hear their cries for help. And even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.26 Instead, I will kill them through wars, famines, and plagues."27
14:13 Then I said, "Oh, Lord GOD,28 isn't it true29 that the prophets are telling them that you said,30 `You will not experience war or suffer famine.31 I will give you lasting peace and prosperity in this land.'?"32
14:14 Then the LORD said to me, "Those prophets are prophesying lies while claiming my authority.33 I did not send them. I did not commission them.34 And I did not speak to them. They are just prophesying to these people false visions, worthless predictions,35 and the delusions of their own mind. 14:15 I did not send those prophets, though they claim to be prophesying in my authority.36 They may be saying, `No war or famine will happen in this land.' But I, the LORD, say this about37 them: `War and starvation will kill those prophets.'38 14:16 And the people to whom they are prophesying will die through war and famine. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem and they won't even be buried. That will happen to the men and their wives, their sons, and their daughters.39 For I will pour out on them the destruction they deserve."40
Lament over Present Destruction and Threat of More to Come
14:19 Then I said,
15:1 Then the LORD said to me, "Even if Moses and Samuel were standing before me pleading for1 these people, I would not feel pity for them.2 Get them away from me! Tell them to go away!3 15:2 And if they ask you, `Where should we go?' tell them this:
15:3 "I will punish them in four different ways. I will have war kill them. I will have dogs drag off their dead bodies. I will have birds and wild beasts devour and destroy their corpses.5 15:4 I will make all the people in all the kingdoms of the world horrified at what has happened to them because of what Hezekiah's son Manasseh, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem."6
15:5 The LORD cried out,7
15:7 The LORD continued,16
Jeremiah Complains about His Lot and The LORD Responds
15:10 I said,28
15:11 The LORD said,
15:15 I said,36
15:19 Because of this, the LORD said,42
Jeremiah Forbidden to Marry, to Mourn, or to Feast
16:1 The LORD said to me, 16:2 "Do not get married and do not have children here in this land. 16:3 For I, the LORD, tell you what will happen to1 the children who are born here in this land and to the men and women who are their mothers and fathers.2 16:4 They will die of deadly diseases. No one will mourn for them. And they will not be buried. Their dead bodies will lie like manure spread on the ground. They will be killed in war or die of starvation. And their corpses will be food for the birds and the wild animals.
16:5 "Moreover, I, the LORD, tell you,3 `Do not go into a house where they are having a funeral meal. Do not go there to mourn and express your sorrow for them. For I have stopped showing them my good favor,4 my love, and my compassion. I, the LORD, so affirm it.5 16:6 Rich and poor alike will die in this land. And they will not be buried or mourned. People will not cut their bodies or shave off their hair to show their grief for them.6 16:7 No one will take any food to those who mourn for the dead to comfort them. No one will give them any wine to drink to console them for the loss of their father or mother.
16:8 "`Do not go to a house where people are feasting either and sit down to eat and drink with them. 16:9 For I, the LORD God of Israel who rules over all, tell you what will happen.7 I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms in this land. You and the rest of the people will live to see this happen.'"8
The LORD Promises Exile (But Also Restoration)
16:10 "When you tell these people about all this,9 they will undoubtedly ask you, `Why has the LORD threatened us with such great disaster? What wrong have we done? What sin have we done to offend the LORD our God?' 16:11 Then tell them that the LORD says,10 `It is because your ancestors11 abandoned me and paid allegiance to12 other gods. They have served them and worshiped them. But they have abandoned me and not obeyed my law.13 16:12 And you, you have done even more wickedness than your ancestors. Each one of you has followed the stubborn inclinations of your own wicked heart and not obeyed me.14 16:13 So I will throw you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have ever known. There you will have to worship other gods day and night, for I will show you no mercy.'"
16:14 Yet15 I, the LORD, say,16 "A new time will certainly come.17 People now affirm their oaths with `I swear as surely as the LORD lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.' 16:15 But at that time they will affirm them with `I swear as surely as the LORD lives who delivered the people of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them.' At that time I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors."18
16:16 But now I, the LORD, say,19 "I will soon send many enemies who will catch these people like fishermen. After that I will send others who will hunt them out like hunters from all the mountains and all the hills and the crevices in the rocks.20 16:17 For I see everything they do. Their wicked ways are not hidden from me. Their sin is not hidden away where I cannot see it.21 16:18 Before I restore them22 I will punish them in full23 for their sins and for the wrongs they have done. For they have polluted my land with the lifeless statues of their disgusting idols. They have filled the land I have claimed as my own24 with their detestable idols."25
16:19 Then I said,26
16:21 The LORD said,30
Individuals Are Challenged to Put Their Trust in the LORD11
17:5 The LORD says,
Jeremiah Appeals to the LORD for Vindication
17:12 Then I said,21
Observance of the Sabbath Day Is a Key to the Future34
17:19 The LORD told me, "Go and stand in the People's Gate35 through which the kings of Judah enter and leave the city. Then go and stand in all the other gates of the city of Jerusalem. 17:20 As you stand in those places36 announce, `Listen, all you people who pass through these gates. Listen, all you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah, and all you citizens of Jerusalem. Listen to what the LORD says.37 17:21 The LORD says, `Be very careful if you value your lives.38 Do not carry any loads39 in through40 the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. 17:22 Do not carry any loads out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath day.41 But observe the Sabbath day as a day set apart to the LORD,42 as I commanded your ancestors.43 17:23 Your ancestors,44 however, did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They stubbornly refused45 to pay any heed or to respond to any discipline.' 17:24 The LORD says,46 `You must be careful to obey me. You must not bring any loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day. You must set the Sabbath day apart to me. You must not do any work on that day. 17:25 If you do this,47 then the kings and princes who follow in David's succession48 and ride in chariots or on horses will continue to enter through these gates. And so will their officials and the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem.49 And this city will always be filled with people.50 17:26 Then people will come here from the towns in Judah. They will come here from the villages surrounding Jerusalem. They will come here from the territory of Benjamin and from the western foothills and from the southern hill country and from the southern part of Judah. They will come bringing offerings to the temple of the LORD. They will bring burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and incense along with their offerings to give thanks to God.51 17:27 But you must obey me and set the Sabbath day apart to me. You must not carry any loads in through52 the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. If you disobey, I will set the gates of Jerusalem on fire. It will burn down all the fortified dwellings in Jerusalem and no one will be able to put it out.'"
An Object Lesson from the Making of Pottery
18:1 The LORD said to Jeremiah:1 18:2 "Go down at once2 to the potter's house. I will speak to you further there."3 18:3 So I went down to the potter's house and found him working4 at his wheel.5 18:4 Now and then6 there would be something wrong7 with the pot he was molding from the clay8 with his hands. Then he would rework9 the clay into another pot as he saw fit.10
18:5 Then the LORD said to me,11 18:6 "I, the LORD, say,12 `O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay?13 In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potter's hand.' 18:7 There are times, Jeremiah,14 when I threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a nation or a kingdom.15 18:8 But if that nation that I threatened stops doing wrong,16 I will forgo the destruction17 I intended to do to it. 18:9 And there are times when I promise to build up and establish18 a nation or a kingdom. 18:10 But if that nation does what displeases me and does not obey me, then I will forgo the good I promised to do to it. 18:11 So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem this: The LORD says, `I am preparing to bring disaster on you. I am making plans to punish you.19 So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing.20 Correct the way you have been living and do what is right.'21 18:12 But they just keep saying, `It is useless for you to try to stop us.22 For we will continue to follow our own ways. We will continue to behave just as wickedly and stubbornly as we want.'"23
18:13 Therefore, the LORD says,
Jeremiah Petitions the LORD to Punish Those Who Attack Him
18:18 Then some people30 said, "Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah.31 There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God's word.32 Come on! Let's bring charges against him and get rid of him.33 Then we won't have to pay any attention to anything he says."
18:19 Then I said,34
An Object Lesson from a Broken Clay Jar
19:1 The LORD told Jeremiah,1 "Go and buy a clay jar from a potter.2 Take with you3 some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders4 of the priests. 19:2 Go out to the part of the Valley of Ben Hinnom which is near the entrance of the Potsherd's Gate.5 Announce there what I tell you to.6 19:3 Say, `Listen to what the LORD says, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! The LORD God of Israel who rules over all7 says, "I am going to bring a disaster on this place8 that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it ring.9 19:4 I will do so because these people10 have left me and have defiled11 this place. They have offered sacrifices in it to other gods which neither they nor their ancestors12 nor the kings of Judah knew anything about. They have filled it with the blood of innocent children.13 19:5 They have built places here14 for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. Such sacrifices15 are something I never commanded them to make. They are something I never told them to do. Indeed such a thing never even entered my mind! 19:6 So," I, the LORD, say,16 "the time will soon come that people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom. But they will call this valley17 the Valley of Slaughter. 19:7 In this place I will void18 the plans of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. I will deliver them over to the power of their enemies who are seeking to kill them. They will die by the sword19 at the hands of their enemies.20 I will make their dead bodies food for the birds and wild beasts to eat. 19:8 I will make this city an object of horror, a thing to be hissed at. All who pass by it will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn21 because of all the disasters that have happened to it.22 19:9 I will reduce the people of this city to desperate straits during the siege imposed on it by their enemies who are seeking to kill them. I will make them so desperate that they will eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters and the flesh of one another."'"23
19:10 And the LORD continued,24 "Now break the jar in front of those who have come here with you. 19:11 Then tell them the LORD who rules over all says,25 `I will do just as Jeremiah has done.26 I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter's vessel which is broken beyond all repair.27 The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.'28 19:12 I, the LORD, say,29 `That is how I will deal with this city and its citizens. I will make it like Topheth. 19:13 The houses in Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled by dead bodies30 just like this place, Topheth. That is because they offered sacrifice to the stars31 and poured out drink offerings to other gods on the roofs of those houses.'"
19:14 Then Jeremiah left Topheth where the LORD had sent him to give that prophecy. He went to the LORD's temple and stood32 in its courtyard and called out to all the people. 19:15 He said, "The LORD God of Israel who rules over all33 says, `I will soon bring on this city and all the towns surrounding it34 all the disaster I threatened to do to it. I will do so because they have stubbornly refused35 to pay any heed to what I have said.'"
Jeremiah is Flogged and Put in A Cell
20:1 Now Pashur son of Immer heard Jeremiah prophesy these things. He was the priest who was chief of security1 in the LORD's temple. 20:2 When he heard Jeremiah's prophecy, he had the prophet flogged.2 Then he put him in the stocks3 which were at the Upper Gate of Benjamin in the LORD's temple.4 20:3 But the next day Pashur released Jeremiah from the stocks. When he did, Jeremiah said to him, "The LORD's name for you is not `Pashur' but `Terror is Everywhere.'5 20:4 For the LORD says, `I will make both you and your friends terrified of what will happen to you.6 And you will see all of them die by the swords of their enemies.7 I will hand all the people of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will carry some of them away into exile in Babylon and he will kill others of them with the sword. 20:5 I will hand over all the wealth of this city to their enemies. I will hand over to them all the fruits of the labor of the people of this city and all their prized possessions, as well as all the treasures of the kings of Judah. Their enemies will seize it all as plunder8 and carry it off to Babylon. 20:6 And you, Pashur, and all your household9 will go into exile in Babylon. You will die there and you will be buried there. The same thing will happen to all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.'"10
Jeremiah Complains about the Reaction to His Ministry
The LORD Will Hand Jerusalem over to Enemies
21:1 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah1 when King Zedekiah2 sent to him Pashur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah.3 Zedekiah sent them to Jeremiah to ask,4 21:2 "Please ask the LORD to come and help us,5 because King Nebuchadnezzar6 of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the LORD will perform one of his miracles as in times past and make him stop attacking us and leave."7 21:3 Jeremiah answered them, "Tell Zedekiah 21:4 that the LORD, the God of Israel, says,8 `The forces at your disposal9 are now outside the walls fighting against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonians10 who have you under siege. I am going to gather those forces back inside the city.11 21:5 And in anger, in fury, and in wrath I myself will fight against you with my mighty power and great strength.12 21:6 I will kill everything living in Jerusalem, people and animals alike. They will die from terrible diseases. 21:7 And then13 I, the LORD, promise that14 I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and any of the people who survive the war, starvation, and disease. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will slaughter them with the sword. He won't show them any mercy, any compassion, or any pity.'
21:8 "But15 tell the people of Jerusalem16 that the LORD says, `I am going to give you a choice between two courses of action. One will result in life; the other will result in death.17 21:9 Those who stay in this city will die in battle or of starvation or disease. Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians who are besieging it will live. They will escape with their lives.18 21:10 For I, the LORD, say that19 I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it.20 It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.'"21
Warnings to the Royal Court
21:11 The LORD told me to say22 to the royal court23 of Judah,
22:1 The LORD told me,2 "Go down3 to the palace of the king of Judah. Give him a message from me there.4 22:2 Say, `Listen, O king of Judah who follows in David's succession.5 You and your officials and your subjects who pass through the gates of this palace must listen to what the LORD says.6 22:3 The LORD says, "Do what is just and right. Deliver those who have been robbed from those7 who oppress them. Do not exploit or mistreat foreigners who live in your land, children who have no fathers, or widows.8 Do not kill innocent people9 in this land. 22:4 If you are careful to10 obey these commands, then the kings who follow in David's succession and ride in chariots or on horses will continue to come through the gates of this palace. So will their officials and their subjects.11 22:5 But, if you do not obey these commands, I solemnly swear12 that this palace will become a pile of rubble. I, the LORD, affirm it."13
22:8 "`People from other nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, "Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?" 22:9 And the answer will come back, "It is because they quit following their agreement with the LORD their God and worshiped and served other gods."
Judgment on Jehoahaz
22:11 "`For the LORD has spoken about Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but was carried off into exile. He has said, "He will never return to this land.17 22:12 For he will die in the country where they took him as a captive. He will never see this land again."18
Judgment on Jehoiakim
Warning to Jerusalem
Jeconiah Will Be Permanently Exiled
22:24 The LORD says,42
"As surely as I am the living God, you, Jeconiah,43 king of Judah, son of Jehoiakim, will not be the earthly representative of my authority. Indeed, I will take away from you that right.44 22:25 I will hand you over to those who want to take your life and whom you are afraid of. I will hand you over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his Babylonian45 soldiers. 22:26 I will force you and your mother who gave you birth into exile. You will be exiled to46 a country where neither of you were born, and you will both die there. 22:27 You will never come back to this land to which you will long to return!"47
22:30 The LORD says,
New Leaders over a Regathered Remnant
23:1 The LORD says,1 "The leaders of my people are sure to be judged.2 They were supposed to watch over my people like shepherds watch over their sheep. But they are causing my people to be destroyed and scattered.3 23:2 So the LORD God of Israel has this to say about the leaders who are ruling over his people: "You have caused my people4 to be dispersed and driven into exile. You have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil that you have done.5 I, the LORD, affirm it.6 23:3 Then I myself will regather those of my people7 who are still left alive from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their homeland.8 They will greatly increase in number. 23:4 I will install rulers9 over them who will care for them. Then they will no longer need to fear or be terrified. None of them will turn up missing.10 I, the LORD, promise it.11
23:7 "So I, the LORD, say,21 `A new time will certainly come.22 People now affirm their oaths with "I swear as surely as the LORD lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt." 23:8 But at that time they will affirm them with "I swear as surely as the LORD lives who delivered the descendants of the former nation of Israel23 from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished24 them."25 At that time they will live in their own land.'"
Oracles Against the False Prophets26
23:25 The LORD says,73 "I have heard what those prophets who are prophesying lies in my name are saying. They are saying, `I have had a dream! I have had a dream!'74 23:26 Those prophets are just prophesying lies. They are prophesying the delusions of their own minds.75 23:27 How long will they go on plotting76 to make my people forget who I am77 through the dreams they tell one another? That is just as bad as what their ancestors78 did when they forgot who I am by worshiping the god Baal.79 23:28 Let the prophet who has had a dream go ahead and tell his dream. And let the person who has received my message report that message faithfully. What is like straw can in no way compare to what is like grain!80 I, the LORD, affirm it.81 23:29 Is not my message like a fire that purges dross?82 Is it not like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? I, the LORD, so affirm it.83 23:30 So I, the LORD, affirm84 that I am opposed to those prophets who steal messages from one another that they claim are from me.85 23:31 I, the LORD, affirm86 that I am opposed to those prophets who are just using their own tongues to declare, `The LORD declares87....' 23:32 I, the LORD, affirm88 that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies.89 I did not send them and I did not commission them and they are not helping these people at all.90 I, the LORD, affirm it."91
23:33 The LORD said to me, "Jeremiah,92 when one of these people, or a prophet, or a priests asks you, `What burdensome message93 do you have from the LORD?' Then tell them, `You are the burden,94 and I will cast you away.95 I, the LORD, affirm it.96 23:34 And I will punish any prophet, priest, or other person who says "The LORD's message is burdensome."97 I will punish both that person and his whole family.'"98
23:35 So I, Jeremiah, tell you,99 "Each of you people should rather say to his friend or his relative, `How did the LORD answer? Or what did the LORD say?'100 23:36 You must no longer say that the LORD's message is burdensome.101 For what is `burdensome'102 really pertains to what a person himself says.103 Thus, you are misrepresenting104 the words of our God, the living God, the LORD who rules over all.105 23:37 Each of you should merely ask the prophet, `What answer did the LORD give you? Or what did the LORD say?'106 23:38 But just suppose you keep on saying, `The message of the LORD is burdensome.' Here is what the LORD says will happen: `I sent word to you that you must not say, "The LORD's message is burdensome." But you used the words "The LORD's message is burdensome" anyway. 23:39 So107 I will carry you far off108 and throw you away. I will get both you and the city I gave to you and to your ancestors out of my sight.109 23:40 I will bring on you lasting shame and lasting disgrace which will never be forgotten!'"
Good Figs and Bad Figs
24:1 The LORD showed me two baskets of figs sitting before his temple. This happened after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon deported Jehoiakim's son, King Jeconiah of Judah. He deported him and the leaders of Judah, along with the craftsmen and metal workers, and took them to Babylon.1 24:2 One basket had very good-looking figs in it. They looked like those that had ripened early.2 And the other basket had very bad-looking figs in it. They looked like they were so bad they could not be eaten. 24:3 The LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I answered, "I see figs. The good ones look very good. But the bad ones look very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten."
24:4 Then the LORD said to me,3 24:5 "I, the LORD, the God of Israel, say, `The exiles whom I sent away from here to the land of Babylon4 are like those good figs. I consider them to be good. 24:6 I will look after their welfare5 and will restore them to this land. There I will build them up and will not tear them down. I will plant them firmly in the land6 and will not uproot them.7 24:7 I will give them the desire to acknowledge that I8 am the LORD. I will be their God and they will be my people. That is because they will wholeheartedly9 return to me.'
24:8 "I, the LORD, also solemnly assert, `King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the people who are left in Jerusalem or who have gone to live in Egypt are like those bad figs. I consider them to be just like those bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten.10 24:9 I will bring such disaster on them that all the kingdoms of the earth will be horrified. I will make them an object of reproach, a proverbial example of disaster. I will make them an object of ridicule, an example to be used in curses.11 That is how they will be remembered wherever I banish them.12 24:10 I will bring war, starvation, and disease13 on them until they are completely destroyed from the land I gave them and their ancestors.'"14
Seventy Years of Servitude for Failure to Give Heed
25:1 In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the LORD spoke to Jeremiah1 concerning all the people of Judah. (That was the same as the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon.)2 25:2 So the prophet Jeremiah spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the people who were living in Jerusalem. He said, 25:3 "For the last twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was ruling in Judah3 until now, the LORD has been speaking to me. I told you over and over again4 what he said.5 But you would not listen. 25:4 Over and over again6 the LORD has sent7 his servants the prophets to you. But you have not listened or paid any attention.8 25:5 He said through them,9 `Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and stop doing the evil things you are doing.10 If you do, I will let you continue to live here in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors as a lasting possession.11 25:6 Do not pay allegiance to12 other gods and worship and serve them. Do not make me angry by the things that you do.13 Then I won't cause you any harm.' 25:7 So, now the LORD says,14 `You have not listened to me. But15 you have made me angry by the things that you have done.16 Thus you have brought harm on yourselves.'
25:8 "Therefore, the LORD who rules over all17 says, `You have not listened to what I said.18 25:9 So I, the LORD, affirm that19 I am going to send for all the peoples of the north20 and my servant,21 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and all the nations that surround it. I will utterly destroy22 this land, its inhabitants, and all the nations that surround it23 and make them everlasting ruins.24 I will make them objects of horror and hissing scorn.25 25:10 I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms in these lands.26 I will put an end to the sound of people grinding meal. I will put an end to lamps shining in their houses.27 25:11 This whole area28 will become a desolate wasteland. These nations will be subject to the king of Babylon for seventy years.'29
25:12 "`But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation30 for their sins. I will make the land of Babylon31 an everlasting ruin.32 I, the LORD, affirm it.33 25:13 I will bring on that land everything that I said I would. I will bring on it everything that is written in this book. I will bring on it everything that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.34 25:14 For many nations and great kings will make slaves of the king of Babylon and his nation35 too. I will repay them for all they have done!'"36
Judah and the Nations Will Experience God's Wrath
25:15 So37 the LORD, the God of Israel, spoke to me in a vision. He said,38 "Take this cup from my hand. It is filled with the wine of my wrath.39 Take it and make the nations to whom I send you drink it. 25:16 When they have drunk it, they will stagger to and fro40 and go out of their mind. That is because I will send wars sweeping through them."41
25:17 So I took the cup from the LORD's hand. I made all the nations to whom he sent me drink the wine of his wrath.42 25:18 I made Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it.43 I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object44 of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses.45 And such is already becoming the case.46 25:19 I made all of these other people drink it: Pharaoh, king of Egypt,47 his attendants, his officials, his people, 25:20 and the foreigners living in Egypt; 48 all the kings of the land of Uz;49 all the kings of the land of the Philistines50 and the people of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the people who had been left alive from Ashdod;51 25:21 all the people of Edom,52 Moab,53 and Ammon;54 25:22 all the kings of Tyre and all the kings of Sidon;55 all the kings of the coastlands along the sea;56 25:23 the people of Dedan, Tema, Buz,57 and all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples;58 25:24 all the kings of Arabia who59 live in the desert; 25:25 all the kings of Zimri;60 all the kings of Elam;61 all the kings of Media;62 25:26 all the kings of the north, whether near or far from one another; and all the other kingdoms which are on the face of the earth. After all of them have drunk the wine of the LORD's wrath,63 the king of Babylon64 will have to drink it.
25:27 Then the LORD said to me,65 "Tell them that the LORD God of Israel who rules over all66 says,67 `Drink this cup68 until you get drunk and vomit. Drink until you fall down and can't get up.69 That is because I will send wars sweeping through you.'70 25:28 And if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink it, tell them that the LORD who rules over all says71 `You most certainly have to drink it!72 25:29 For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own.73 So how can you possibly avoid being punished?74 You will not go unpunished! For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the LORD who rules over all,75 affirm it.'76
25:30 "Then, Jeremiah,77 make the following prophecy78 against them. Tell them,
Jeremiah Is Put on Trial as a False Prophet99
26:1 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah1 at the beginning of the reign2 of Josiah's son, King Jehoiakim of Judah. 26:2 The LORD said, "Go and stand in the courtyard of the LORD's temple.3 Speak out to all the people who are coming from the towns of Judah to worship in the LORD's temple. Tell them everything I command you to tell them. Don't leave out a single word! 26:3 Maybe they will pay heed and each of them will stop living the evil way they do.4 If they do that, then I will forgo destroying them5 as I had intended to do because of the wicked things they have been doing.6 26:4 Tell them that the LORD says,7 `You must obey me! You must live according to the way I have instructed you in my laws.8 26:5 You must pay heed to the exhortations of my servants the prophets. I have sent them to you over and over again.9 But you have not paid any heed to them. 26:6 If you do not obey me,10 then I will do to this temple what I did to Shiloh.11 And I will make this city an example to be used in curses by people from all the nations on the earth.'"
26:7 The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah say these things in the LORD's temple. 26:8 Jeremiah had just barely finished saying all the LORD had commanded him to say to all the people. All at once some12 of the priests, the prophets, and the people grabbed him and shouted, "You deserve to die!13 26:9 How dare you claim the LORD's authority to prophesy such things! How dare you claim his authority to prophesy that this temple will become like Shiloh and that this city will become an uninhabited ruin!"14 Then all the people crowded around Jeremiah.
26:10 However, some of the officials15 of Judah heard about what was happening16 and they rushed up to the LORD's temple from the royal palace. They set up court17 at the entrance of the New Gate of the LORD's temple.18 26:11 Then the priests and the prophets made their charges before the officials and all the people. They said,19 "This man should be condemned to die20 because he prophesied against this city. You have heard him do so21 with your own ears."
26:12 Then Jeremiah made his defense before all the officials and all the people. He said,22 "The LORD sent me to prophesy everything you have heard me say against this temple and against this city. 26:13 But correct the way you have been living and do what is right.23 Obey the LORD your God. If you do, the LORD will forgo destroying you as he threatened he would.24 26:14 As to my case, I am in your power.25 Do to me what you deem fair and proper. 26:15 But you should take careful note of this: If you put me to death, you will bring on yourselves and this city and those who live in it the guilt of murdering an innocent man. For the LORD has sent me to speak all this where you can hear it. That is the truth!"26
26:16 Then the officials and all the people rendered their verdict to the priests and the prophets. They said,27 "This man should not be condemned to die.28 For he has spoken to us under the authority of the LORD our God."29 26:17 Then some of the elders of Judah30 stepped forward and spoke to all the people gathered there. They said, 26:18 "Micah from Moresheth31 prophesied during the time Hezekiah was king of Judah.32 He told all the people of Judah,
26:19 King Hezekiah and all the people of Judah didn't put him to death, did they? Didn't Hezekiah show reverence for the LORD and seek the LORD's favor?36 And didn't37 the LORD forgo destroying them38 as he threatened he would? But we are on the verge of bringing great disaster on ourselves."39
26:20 (Now there was another man40 who prophesied as the LORD's representative41 against this city and this land just as Jeremiah did. His name was Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim.42 26:21 When the king and all his bodyguards43 and officials heard what he was prophesying,44 the king sought to have him executed. But Uriah found out about it and fled to Egypt out of fear.45 26:22 However, King Jehoiakim sent some men to Egypt, including Elnathan son of Achbor,46 26:23 and they brought Uriah back from there.47 They took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him executed and had his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.)48
26:24 However, Ahikam son of Shaphan49 used his influence to keep Jeremiah from being handed over and executed by the people.50
Jeremiah Counsels Submission to Babylon
27:1 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah1 early in the reign of Josiah's son, King Zedekiah of Judah.2 27:2 The LORD told me,3 "Make a yoke4 out of leather straps and wooden crossbars and put it on your neck. 27:3 Use it to send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon.5 Send them through6 the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to King Zedekiah of Judah. 27:4 Charge them to give their masters a message from me. Tell them, `The LORD God of Israel who rules over all7 says to give your masters this message. He says,8 27:5 "I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength,9 and I give it to whomever I see fit.10 27:6 I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power11 of my servant,12 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him.13 27:7 All nations must serve him and his son and grandson14 until the time comes for his own nation to fall.15 Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon.16 27:8 But suppose a nation or a kingdom will not be subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Suppose it will not submit to the yoke of servitude to17 him. I, the LORD, affirm that18 I will punish that nation. I will use the king of Babylon to punish it19 with war,20 starvation, and disease until I have destroyed it.21 27:9 So don't listen to your prophets or to those who claim to predict the future by divination,22 by dreams, by consulting the dead,23 or by practicing magic. They keep telling you, `You don't have to be24 subject to the king of Babylon.' 27:10 Don't listen to them,25 because their prophecies are lies.26 Listening to them will only cause you27 to be taken far away from your native land. I will drive you out of your country and you will die in exile.28 27:11 Things will go better for the nation that submits to the yoke of servitude to29 the king of Babylon and is subject to him. I will leave that nation30 in its native land. Its people can continue to farm it and live in it. I, the LORD, affirm it."'"31
27:12 I told King Zedekiah of Judah the same thing. I said,32 "Submit33 to the yoke of servitude to34 the king of Babylon. Be subject to him and his people. Then you will continue to live. 27:13 Why should you and your people die in war35 or from starvation or disease? That's what the LORD says will happen to any nation36 that will not be subject to the king of Babylon. 27:14 Don't listen to the prophets who are telling you that you don't need to serve37 the king of Babylon. For they are prophesying lies to you. 27:15 For I, the LORD, affirm38 that I did not send them. They are prophesying lies to you. If you39 listen to them, I will drive you and the prophets who are prophesying lies out of the land and you will all die in exile."40
27:16 I also told the priests and all the people, "The LORD says, `Don't listen to what your prophets are saying. They are prophesying to you that41 the valuable articles taken from the LORD's temple will be brought back from Babylon very soon.42 But they are prophesying a lie to you. 27:17 Don't listen to them. Be subject to the king of Babylon. Then you43 will continue to live. Why should this city be made a pile of rubble?'"44 27:18 I also told them,45 "If they are really prophets and the LORD is speaking to them,46 let them pray earnestly to the LORD who rules over all.47 Let them plead with him not to let the valuable articles that are still left in the LORD's temple, in the royal palace, and in Jerusalem be taken away48 to Babylon. 27:19 For the LORD who rules over all49 has already spoken about the two bronze pillars,50 the big bronze basin called `The Sea,'51 and the movable bronze stands.52 He has already spoken about the rest of the valuable articles that are left in this city. 27:20 He has already spoken about these things that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon did not take away when he carried Jehoiakim's son King Jeconiah of Judah and the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem away as captives.53 27:21 Indeed, the LORD God of Israel who rules over all54 has already spoken55 about the valuable articles that are left in the LORD's temple, in the royal palace of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 27:22 He has said, `They will be carried off to Babylon. They will remain there until it is time for me to show consideration for them again.56 Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.' The LORD affirm this."57
Jeremiah Confronted by a False Prophet
28:1 The following events occurred in that same year, early in the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah. To be more precise, it was the fifth month of the fourth year of his reign.1 The prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, spoke to Jeremiah2 in the LORD's temple in the presence of the priests and all the people.3 He said,4 28:2 "The LORD God of Israel who rules over all5 says, `I will break the yoke of servitude6 to the king of Babylon. 28:3 Before two years are over, I will bring back to this place everything that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from it and carried away to Babylon. 28:4 I will also bring back to this place Jehoiakim's son King Jeconiah of Judah and all the exiles who were taken to Babylon.' Indeed, the LORD affirms,7 `I will break the yoke of servitude to the king of Babylon.'"
28:5 Then the prophet Jeremiah responded to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the LORD's temple. 28:6 The prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen! May the LORD do all this! May the LORD make your prophecy come true! May he bring back to this place from Babylon all the valuable articles taken from the LORD's temple and the people who were carried into exile. 28:7 But listen to what I have to say to you and to all these people.8 28:8 From earliest times, the prophets who preceded you and me invariably9 prophesied war, disaster,10 and plagues against many countries and great kingdoms. 28:9 So if a prophet prophesied11 peace and prosperity, it was only known that the LORD truly sent him when what he prophesied came true."
28:10 The prophet Hananiah then took the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah's neck and broke it. 28:11 Then he spoke up in the presence of all the people. He said, "The LORD says, `In the same way I will break the yoke of servitude of all the nations to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon12 before two years are over.'" After he heard this, the prophet Jeremiah left and went on his way.13
28:12 But shortly after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, the LORD spoke to Jeremiah. He said, 28:13 "Go and tell Hananiah that the LORD says,14 `You have indeed broken the wooden yoke. But you have15 only succeeded in replacing it with an iron one!16 28:14 For the LORD God of Israel who rules over all17 says, "I have put an irresistible yoke of servitude on all these nations18 so they will serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And they will indeed serve him. I have even given him control over the wild animals."'"19 28:15 Then the prophet Jeremiah told the prophet Hananiah, "Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you! You are giving these people false assurances.20 28:16 So the LORD says, `I will most assuredly remove21 you from the face of the earth. You will die this very year because you have counseled rebellion against the LORD.'"22
28:17 In the seventh month of that very same year23 the prophet Hananiah died.
Jeremiah's Letter to the Exiles
29:1 The prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to the exiles Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from Jerusalem to Babylon. It was addressed to the elders who were left among the exiles, to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the other people who were exiled in Babylon.1 29:2 He sent it after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the palace officials,2 the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the metal workers had been exiled from Jerusalem.3 29:3 He sent it with Elasah son of Shaphan4 and Gemariah son of Hilkiah.5 King Zedekiah of Judah had sent these men to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.6 The letter said:
29:4 "The LORD God of Israel who rules over all7 says to all those he sent8 into exile to Babylon from Jerusalem, 29:5 `Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. 29:6 Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and let your daughters get married so that they too can have sons and daughters. Grow in number; don't dwindle away. 29:7 Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the LORD for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.'
29:8 "For the LORD God of Israel who rules over all9 says, `Don't let the prophets or those among you who claim to be able to predict the future by divination10 deceive you. And don't pay any attention to the dreams that you are encouraging them to dream. 29:9 They are prophesying lies to you and claiming my authority to do so.11 But I did not send them. I, the LORD, affirm it.'12
29:10 "For the LORD says, `Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule13 are over will I again take up consideration for you.14 Then I will fulfill my gracious promise to you and restore15 you to your homeland.16 29:11 For I know what I have planned for you,' says the LORD.17 `I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you18 a future filled with hope.19 29:12 When you call out to me and come to me in prayer,20 I will hear your prayers.21 29:13 When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul,22 29:14 I will make myself available to you,'23 says the LORD.24 `Then I will reverse your fortunes25 and will regather you from all the nations and all the places where I have exiled you,' says the LORD.26 `I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you.'
29:15 "You say, `The LORD has raised up prophets of good news27 for us here in Babylon.' 29:16 But just listen to what the LORD has to say about28 the king who occupies David's throne and all your fellow countrymen who are still living in this city of Jerusalem29 and were not carried off into exile with you. 29:17 The LORD who rules over all30 says, `I am going to bring war,31 starvation, and disease on them. I will treat them like figs that are so rotten32 that they cannot be eaten. 29:18 I will chase after them with war,33 starvation, and disease. I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to them. I will make them examples of those who are cursed, objects of horror, hissing scorn, and ridicule among all the nations where I exile them. 29:19 That is because they have not paid heed to what I said to them through my servants the prophets whom I sent to them over and over again,'34 says the LORD.35 `And you exiles36 have not paid any attention to them either,' says the LORD.37 29:20 `So pay attention to what I, the LORD, have said,38 all you exiles whom I have sent to Babylon from Jerusalem.'
29:21 "The LORD God of Israel who rules over all39 also has something to say about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you and claiming my authority to do so.40 He says, `I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and he will execute them before your very eyes. 29:22 And all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use them as examples when they put a curse on anyone. They will say, "May the LORD treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab whom the king of Babylon roasted to death in the fire!"41 29:23 This will happen to them because they have done what is shameful42 in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives and have spoken lies while claiming my authority.43 They have spoken words that I did not command them to speak. I know what they have done. I have been a witness to it,' says the LORD."44
A Response to the Letter and a Subsequent Letter
29:24 The LORD told Jeremiah, "Tell45 Shemaiah the Nehelamite46 29:25 that the LORD God of Israel who rules over all47 has a message for him.48 Tell him,49 `On your own initiative50 you sent a letter51 to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah52 and to all the other priests and to all the people in Jerusalem. In your letter you said to Zephaniah,53 29:26 "The LORD has made you priest in place of Jehoiada.54 He has put you in charge in the LORD's temple of controlling55 any lunatic56 who pretends to be a prophet.57 And it is your duty to put any such person in the stocks58 with an iron collar around his neck.59 29:27 So why haven't you reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth who is pretending to be a prophet among you? 29:28 For he has even sent a message to us here in Babylon. He wrote and told us,60 "You will be there a long time. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce."'"61
29:29 Zephaniah the priest read that letter to the prophet Jeremiah.62 29:30 Then the LORD spoke to Jeremiah. He said, 29:31 "Send a message to all the exiles in Babylon. Tell them, `The LORD has spoken about Shemaiah the Nehelamite. He says, "Shemaiah has spoken to you as a prophet even though I did not send him. He is giving you false assurances. 29:32 Because he has done this,"63 the LORD says, "I am going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his whole family. There will not be any of them left to experience the good things that I will do for my people. I, the LORD, affirm it. That is because he counseled rebellion against the LORD."'"64
Introduction to the Book of Consolation
30:1 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah. He said,1 30:2 "The LORD God of Israel who rules over all says,2 `Write everything that I am about to tell you in a scroll.3 30:3 For I, the LORD affirm4 that the time will come when I will reverse the fortunes of my people,5 Israel and Judah,' says the LORD. `I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors6 and they will take possession of it once again.'"7
Israel and Judah Will Be Delivered After a Time of Deep Distress
30:4 So here is what the LORD has to say about Israel and Judah.8 30:5 Yes,9 here is what he says:
The LORD Will Heal the Wounds of Judah
30:12 Moreover,26 the LORD says to the people of Zion,27
The LORD Will Restore Israel and Judah
30:18 The LORD says,
Israel Will Be Restored and Join Judah in Worship
31:2 The LORD says,
31:7 Moreover,10 the LORD says,
31:15 The LORD says,
Judah Will Be Restored
31:23 The LORD God of Israel who rules over all51 says,
Israel and Judah Will Be Repopulated
31:27 "Indeed, a time is coming,"58 says the LORD,59 "when I will cause people and animals to sprout up in the lands of Israel and Judah.60 31:28 In the past I saw to it that they were uprooted and torn down, that they were destroyed and demolished. At that time I will see to it that they are built up and firmly planted.61 I, the LORD, affirm it.62
The LORD Will Make a New Agreement with Israel and Judah
31:29 "When that time comes, people will no longer say, `The parents have eaten sour grapes, but the children's teeth have grown numb.'63 31:30 Rather, each person will die for his own sins. The teeth of the person who eats the sour grapes will themselves grow numb.64
31:31 "Indeed, a time is coming," says the LORD,65 "when I will make a new agreement66 with the people of Israel and Judah.67 31:32 It will not be like the old68 agreement that I made with their ancestors69 when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. For they violated that agreement, even though I was a faithful husband to them,"70 says the LORD.71 31:33 "But I will make a new agreement with the whole nation of Israel72 after I plant them back in the land,"73 says the LORD.74 "I will75 put my law within them76 and write it on their hearts and minds.77 And I will be their God and they will be my people.78
31:34 "People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me.79 That is because all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,"80 says the LORD. "All of this is based on the fact81 that I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done."
The LORD Guarantees Israel's Continuance
Jerusalem Will Be Enlarged
31:38 "Indeed a time is coming,"88 says the LORD,89 "when the city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt as my special city.90 It will be built from the Tower of Hananel westward to the Corner Gate.91 31:39 The boundary line will extend beyond that, straight west from there to the Hill of Gareb and then turn southward to Goah.92 31:40 The whole valley where dead bodies and sacrificial ashes are thrown93 and all the terraced fields94 out to the Kidron Valley95 on the east as far north96 as the Horse Gate97 will be included within this city that is sacred to the LORD.98 The city will never again be torn down or destroyed."
Jeremiah Buys a Field
32:1 In the tenth year that Zedekiah was ruling over Judah the LORD spoke to Jeremiah.1 That was the same as the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.
32:22 (The armies of the king of Babylon were then besieging Jerusalem.3 The prophet Jeremiah was at that time confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse4 attached to the royal palace of Judah. 32:3 For King Zedekiah5 had confined Jeremiah there after he had reproved him for prophesying as he did. He had asked Jeremiah, "Why do you keep prophesying these things? Why do you keep saying that the LORD says, `I am going to hand this city over to the king of Babylon? I am going to let him capture it.6 32:4 King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Babylonians.7 He will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon. He will have to answer personally to the king of Babylon and confront him face to face.8 32:5 Zedekiah will be carried off to Babylon and will remain there until I have fully dealt with him.9 I, the LORD, affirm it.10 Even if you11 continue to fight against the Babylonians,12 you cannot win.'")
32:6 Jeremiah said, "The LORD told me,13 32:7 `Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is going to come to you. He is going to say to you, "Buy my field at Anathoth because it is your right14 as my closest relative to buy it."'15 32:8 And it happened just as the LORD had said. My cousin Hanamel16 came to me in the courtyard of the guardhouse. He said to me, `Buy my field which is at Anathoth in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. Buy it for yourself since you have the right as my closest relative to take possession of it for yourself.' When this happened, I recognized that the LORD had indeed spoken to me. 32:9 So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out seven ounces of silver and gave it to him to pay for it.17 32:10 I signed the deed of purchase,18 sealed it, and had some men serve as witnesses to the purchase.19 I weighed out the silver for him on a scale. 32:11 There were two copies of the deed of purchase. One was sealed and contained the order of transfer and the conditions of purchase.20 The other was left unsealed. 32:12 I took both copies of the deed of purchase21 and gave them to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah. I gave them to him in the presence22 of my cousin23 Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase, and all the Judeans who were housed in the courtyard of the guardhouse. 32:13 In the presence of all these people I gave Baruch some instructions. I instructed him, 32:14 `The LORD God of Israel who rules over all24 says, "Take these documents, both the sealed copy of the deed of purchase and the unsealed copy. Put them in a clay jar so that they may be preserved for a long time to come."25 32:15 For the LORD God of Israel who rules over all26 says, "Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land."'27
Jeremiah's Prayer of Praise and Bewilderment
32:16 "After I had given the copies of the deed purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD. I prayed, 32:17 `Oh, Lord GOD,28 you did indeed29 make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength.30 Nothing is too hard for you! 32:18 You show unfailing love to thousands.31 But you also punish children for the sins of their parents.32 You are the great and powerful God who is known as the LORD who rules over all.33 32:19 You plan great things and you do mighty deeds.34 You see everything people do.35 And you reward each of them for the way they live and for the things they do.36 32:20 You did miracles and amazing deeds in the land of Egypt which have had lasting effect. By this means you gained both in Israel and among mankind a renown that lasts to this day.37 32:21 You used your mighty power and your great strength to perform miracles and amazing deeds and bring great terror on the Egyptians. By this means you brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt.38 32:22 You kept the promise that you swore on oath to their ancestors.39 You gave them this land of fertile fields and fine pastures.40 32:23 But when they came in and took possession of it, they did not obey you or live as you had instructed them. They didn't do anything that you commanded them to do.41 So you brought all this disaster on them. 32:24 Even now siege ramps have been built up around the city42 in order to capture it. Military incursions,43 starvation, and disease are sure to make the city fall into the hands of the Babylonians44 who are attacking it.45 LORD,46 you threatened that this would happen. And now you can see that it is already taking place.47 32:25 The city is sure to fall into the hands of the Babylonians.48 Yet, in spite of this,49 you, Lord GOD,50 have said to me, "Buy that field with silver and have the transaction legally witnessed."'"51
The LORD Answers Jeremiah's Prayer
32:26 The LORD answered Jeremiah. He said,52 32:27 "I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. There is, indeed, nothing too hard for me.53 32:28 Therefore I, the LORD, say,54 `I am indeed going to hand55 this city over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonian forces.56 They will capture it. 32:29 The Babylonian forces57 that are attacking this city will break into it and set it on fire. They will burn it down along with the houses where people have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods on their rooftops.58 32:30 This will happen because the people of Israel and Judah have done only that which is displeasing to me59 from their earliest history on.60 It will happen because they61 have done nothing but make me angry by the things they have done.62 I, the LORD, affirm it.63 32:31 It will happen because64 the people of this city have aroused my anger and my wrath since the time they built it until now.65 They have made me so angry that I must remove66 it from my sight. 32:32 I must do so because the people of Israel and Judah have made me angry with all their wickedness. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, their prophets, and especially the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem have done this wickedness.67 32:33 They have turned away from me instead of turning to me.68 I tried over and over again69 to instruct them, but they did not listen and respond to correction.70 32:34 They set up their disgusting idols in the house which I have claimed for my own71 and defiled it. 32:35 They built places of worship for the god Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they could sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech.72 Such a disgusting practice was not something I commanded them to do. It never even entered my mind to command them to do such a thing. The result of their doing all this has been to make Judah liable for punishment.'73
32:36 "You and your people74 are right in saying, `Military incursions,75 starvation, and disease are sure to make this city fall into the hands of the king of Babylon.'76 But now I, the LORD God of Israel, have something further to say about this city.77 I say, 32:37 `I will certainly regather my people from all the countries where I have exiled78 them in my anger, fury, and great wrath. I will bring them back to this place and let them live here in safety. 32:38 They will be my people, and I will be their God.79 32:39 I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for80 their own good and the good of the children who descend from them. 32:40 I will make a lasting agreement81 with them that I will never stop doing good to them.82 And I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that83 they will never again turn84 away from me. 32:41 I will take delight in doing good to them. I will faithfully and wholeheartedly plant them85 firmly in the land.'
32:42 "For I, the LORD, say,86 `I will surely bring on these people all the good fortune that I am hereby promising them. I will be just as sure to do that as I have been in bringing all this great disaster on them.87 32:43 You and your people88 are saying that this land will become desolate, inhabited by neither people nor animals. You are saying that it will be handed over to the Babylonians.89 But fields90 will again be bought in this land.91 32:44 Fields will again be bought with silver, and deeds of purchase signed, sealed, and witnessed. This will happen in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages surrounding Jerusalem, and in the towns in Judah, in the southern hill country, the western foothills, and southern Judah.92 For I will restore them to their land.93 I, the LORD, affirm it.'"94
The LORD Promises a Second Time to Restore Israel and Judah
33:1 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah a second time while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse.1 He said,2 33:2 "I, the LORD, do these things. I, the LORD, form the plan to bring them about.3 I am known as the LORD. And I say to you, 33:3 `Call on me in prayer and I will answer you. I will show you great and mysterious4 things which you still do not know about.' 33:4 For I, the LORD God of Israel, have something more to say about the houses in this city and the royal buildings which have been torn down for defenses against the siege ramps and military incursions of the Babylonians.5 33:5 `The defenders of the city will go out and fight with the Babylonians.6 But they will only fill those houses and buildings with the dead bodies of the people that I will kill in my anger and my wrath.7 That will happen because I have decided to turn my back on8 this city on account of the wicked things they have done.9 33:6 But I will most surely10 heal the hurts of this city and restore it and its people to health.11 I will show them abundant12 peace and security. 33:7 I will restore Judah and Israel13 and will rebuild them as they were in days of old.14 33:8 I will purify them from all the sin that they committed against me. I will forgive all their sins which they committed in rebelling against me.15 33:9 All the nations will hear about all the good things which I will do to them. And this city will bring me fame, honor, and praise before them for the joy that I bring it. The nations will tremble in awe at all the peace and prosperity that I will provide for it.'16
33:10 "I, the LORD, say,17 `You and your people are saying18 about this place, "It lies in ruins. There are no people or animals in it." That is true. The towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem will soon be desolate, inhabited neither by people nor by animals. But happy sounds will again be heard in these places. 33:11 Once again there will be sounds19 of joy and gladness and the glad celebrations of brides and grooms.20 Once again people will bring their thank offerings to the temple of the LORD and will say, "Give thanks to the LORD who rules over all. For the LORD is good and his unfailing love lasts forever."21 For I, the LORD, affirm22 that I will restore the land to what it was23 in days of old.'24
33:12 "I, the LORD who rules over all, say,25 `This place will indeed lie in ruins. There will be no people or animals in it. But there will again be in it and in its towns sheepfolds where shepherds can rest their sheep. 33:13 I, the LORD, say that shepherds will once again count their sheep as they pass into the fold.26 They will do this in all the towns in the southern hill country, the western foothills, and the southern hill country and in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages surrounding Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah.'27
The LORD Reaffirms His Covenant with David, Israel, and Levi
33:14 "I, the LORD, affirm,28 `The time will certainly come when I will fulfill my gracious promise concerning the nations of Israel and Judah.29 33:15 In those days and at that time I will raise up for them a righteous descendant30 of David.
"`He will do what is just and right in the land. 33:16 Under his rule Judah will enjoy safety31 and Jerusalem will live in security. At that time Jerusalem will be called "The LORD has provided us with justice."32 33:17 For I, the LORD, promise, "David will never lack a successor to occupy33 the throne over the nation of Israel.34 33:18 Nor will the Levitical priests ever lack someone to stand before me and continually offer up burnt offerings, sacrifice cereal offerings, and offer the other sacrifices."'"35
33:19 The LORD spoke further to Jeremiah. He said,36 33:20 "I, LORD, make the following promise:37 `I have made an agreement with the day38 and with the night that they will always come at their proper times. Only if you people39 could break that agreement 33:21 could my agreement with my servant David and my agreement with the Levites ever be broken. So David will by all means always have a descendant to occupy his throne as king and the Levites will by all means always have priests who will minister before me.40 33:22 I will make the children who follow one another in the line of my servant David very numerous. I will also make the Levites who minister before me very numerous. I will make them all as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sands which are on the seashore.'"41
33:23 And the LORD spoke still further to Jeremiah. He said,42 33:24 "You have surely noticed what these people are saying, haven't you? They are saying,43 `The LORD has rejected the two families of Israel and Judah44 that he chose.' So they have little regard that my people will ever again be a nation.45 33:25 But I, the LORD, make the following promise:46 I have made an agreement governing the coming of day and night. And I have established the fixed laws governing heaven and earth. 33:26 Just as surely as I have done this, so surely will I never reject the descendants of Jacob. Nor will I ever refuse to choose one of my servant David's descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Indeed,47 I will restore them48 and show mercy to them."
The LORD Makes an Ominous Promise to Zedekiah
34:1 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah while King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem and the towns around it with a large army. This army consisted of troops from his own army and from the kingdoms and peoples of the lands under his dominion.1 34:2 The LORD God of Israel told him to go and give King Zedekiah of Judah a message. He told Jeremiah2 to tell him, "The LORD says, `I am going to3 hand this city over to the king of Babylon and he will burn it down. 34:3 And you yourself will not escape his clutches, but will certainly be captured and handed over to him. You will have to confront the king of Babylon face to face and answer to him personally.4 Then you will have to go to Babylon. 34:4 However, listen to what I, the LORD, promise you, King Zedekiah of Judah. I, the LORD, promise that5 you will not die in battle or be executed.6 34:5 You will die a peaceful death. They will burn incense at your burial just as they did at the burial of your ancestors, the former kings who preceded you.7 And they will mourn for you, saying, "Poor, poor Master!"8 Indeed, you have my own word on this.9 I, the LORD, affirm it.'"10
34:6 The prophet Jeremiah told all this to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem. 34:7 He did this while the army of the king of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem and the cities of Lachish and Azekah. He was attacking these cities because they were the only fortified cities of Judah which were still holding out.11
The LORD Threatens to Destroy Those Who Wronged Their Slaves
34:8 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah after King Zedekiah had made an agreement12 with all the people in Jerusalem to grant their slaves their freedom. 34:9 Everyone was supposed to free their male and female Hebrew slaves. No one was supposed to keep a fellow Judean enslaved.13 34:10 All the people and their leaders had agreed to this. They had agreed to let their male and female slaves go free and not keep them enslaved any longer. They had moreover complied with the agreement and let them go free.14 34:11 But later15 they had changed their minds. They had taken back their male and female slaves that they had freed and forced them to be slaves again.16 34:12 That was when the LORD spoke to Jeremiah.17 He told him to tell them,18 34:13 "The LORD God of Israel has a message for you. He says,19 `I made an agreement with your ancestors20 when I brought them out of Egypt where they had been slaves.21 It stipulated,22 34:14 "Every seven years each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you for six years, you shall let them go free."23 But your ancestors did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. 34:15 Recently, however, you yourselves24 showed a change of heart and did what is pleasing to me. You granted your fellow countrymen their freedom and you made an agreement to that effect in my presence in the house that I have claimed for my own.25 34:16 But then you turned right around26 and showed that you did not honor me.27 Each of you took back your male and female slaves whom you had freed as they desired, and you forced them to be your slaves again.28 34:17 So, I, the LORD, say, "You have not really obeyed me and granted freedom to your neighbor and fellow countryman.29 Therefore, I am going to `grant you freedom,' the `freedom'30 to die in war, or by starvation or disease. I, the LORD, affirm it.31 I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to you.32 34:18 I will punish those people who have violated their agreement with me. I will make them like the calf they cut in two and passed between its pieces.33 I will do so because they did not keep the terms of the agreement they made in my presence.34 34:19 I will punish the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials,35 the priests, and all the other people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf.36 34:20 I will hand them over to their enemies who want to kill them. And their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.37 34:21 I will also hand King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials over to their enemies who want to kill them. I will hand them over to the army of the king of Babylon, even though they have temporarily withdrawn from attacking you.38 34:22 For I, the LORD, affirm that39 I will soon give the order and bring them back to this city. They will fight against it and capture it and burn it down. I will also make the towns of Judah desolate so that there will be no one living in them."'"
Judah's Unfaithfulness Contrasted with the Rechabites' Faithfulness
35:1 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah when Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling over Judah.1 He said,2 35:2 "Go to the Rechabite community.3 Invite them to come into one of the side rooms4 of the LORD's temple and offer them some wine to drink." 35:3 So I went and got Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the grandson of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and all the rest of the Rechabite community. 35:4 I took them to the LORD's temple. I took them into the room where the disciples of the prophet Hanan son of Igdaliah stayed.5 That room was next to the one where the temple officers stayed and above the room where Maaseiah son of Shallum, one of the doorkeepers6 of the temple, stayed. 35:5 Then I set cups and pitchers full of wine in front of the members of the Rechabite community and said to them, "Have some wine."7 35:6 But they answered, "We don't drink wine because our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us not to. He told us, `You and your children must never drink wine. 35:7 Don't build houses. Don't plant crops. Don't plant a vineyard or own one.8 Live in tents all your lives. If you do these things you will9 live a long time in the land that you wander about on.'10 35:8 We and our wives and our sons and daughters have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. We have never drunk wine.11 35:9 We haven't built any houses to live in. We don't own any vineyards, fields, or crops. 35:10 We have lived in tents. We have obeyed our ancestor Jonadab and done exactly as he commanded us.12 35:11 But when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land we said, `Let's get up and go to Jerusalem to get away from the Babylonian13 and Aramean armies.' That is why we are staying here in Jerusalem."
35:12 Then the LORD spoke to Jeremiah. 35:13 The LORD God of Israel who rules over all14 told him, "Go and speak to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. Tell them,15 `I, the LORD, ask,16 "Won't you learn a lesson from this17 about obeying what I say? 35:14 Jonadab son of Rechab ordered his descendants not to drink wine. And his orders have been carried out.18 To this day his descendants have drunk no wine because they have obeyed what their ancestor commanded them. But I19 have spoken to you over and over again20 and you have not obeyed me. 35:15 I sent all my servants the prophets to warn you over and over again. They said, "Every one of you, stop doing the evil things you have been doing and do what is right.21 Don't pay allegiance to other gods22 and worship them. Then you can continue to live in this land that I gave to you and your ancestors." But you did not pay any attention or listen to me. 35:16 Yes,23 the descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the orders that their ancestor gave them. But you people24 have not listened to me. 35:17 So, I, the LORD, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel say,25 "I will soon bring on Judah and all the citizens of Jerusalem all the disaster that I threatened to bring on them. I will do this because I spoke to them but they did not listen. I called out to them but they did not answer."'"
35:18 Then Jeremiah spoke to the Rechabite community. He said, "The LORD God of Israel who rules over all26 says, `You have obeyed the orders of your ancestor Jonadab. You have followed all his instructions. You have done exactly as he commanded you.' 35:19 So the LORD God of Israel who rules over all says, `Jonadab son of Rechab will never lack a male descendant to serve me.'"27
Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll Containing the LORD's Messages
36:1 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah in the fourth year that Jehoakim son of Josiah was ruling over Judah.1 He said,2 36:2 "Get a scroll.3 Write on it everything I have told you to say4 about Israel, Judah, and all the other nations since I began to speak to you in the reign of Josiah until now.5 36:3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the disaster I intend to bring on them, they will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing.6 If they do, I will forgive their sins and the wicked things they have done."7
36:4 So Jeremiah summoned Baruch son of Neriah. Then Jeremiah dictated to Baruch everything the LORD had told him to say and Baruch wrote it all down in a scroll.8 36:5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, "I am no longer allowed to go9 into the LORD's temple. 36:6 So you go there the next time all the people of Judah come in from their towns to fast10 in the LORD's temple. Read out loud where all of them can hear you what I told you the LORD said, which you wrote in the scroll.11 36:7 Perhaps then they will ask the LORD for mercy and will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing.12 For the LORD has threatened to bring great anger and wrath against these people."13
36:8 So Baruch son of Neriah did exactly what the prophet Jeremiah had told him to do. He read what the LORD had said from the scroll in the temple of the LORD.14 36:9 All the people living in Jerusalem and all the people who came into Jerusalem from the towns of Judah came to observe a fast before the LORD. The fast took place in the ninth month of the fifth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling over Judah.15 36:10 At that time Baruch went into the temple of the LORD. He stood in the entrance of the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan who had been the royal secretary.16 That room was in the upper court17 near the entrance of the New Gate.18 There, where all the people could hear him, he read from the scroll what Jeremiah had said.19
36:11 Micaiah, who was the son of Gemariah and the grandson of Shaphan, heard Baruch read from the scroll everything the LORD had said.20 36:12 He went down to the chamber of the royal secretary in the king's palace and found all the court officials in session there. Elishama21 the royal secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor,22 Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials were seated there. 36:13 Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read from the scroll in the hearing of the people.23 36:14 All the officials sent Jehudi, who was the son of Nethaniah and the grandson of Cushi, to Baruch. They ordered him to tell Baruch, "Come here and bring with you24 the scroll you read in the hearing of the people."25 So Baruch son of Neriah went to them, carrying the scroll in his hand.26 36:15 They said to him, "Please sit down and read it to us." So Baruch sat down and read it to them.27 36:16 When they had heard it all,28 they expressed their alarm to one another.29 Then they said to Baruch, "We must certainly give the king a report about everything you have read."30 36:17 Then they asked Baruch, "How did you come to write all these words? Do they actually come from Jeremiah's mouth?"31 36:18 And Baruch answered, "Yes, they came from his own mouth. He dictated all these words to me and I wrote them down in ink on this scroll."32 36:19 Then the officials said to Baruch, "You and Jeremiah must go and hide. And you must not let anyone know where you are."33
36:20 The officials put the scroll in the room of Elishama, the royal secretary, for safekeeping.34 Then they went to the court and reported everything35 to the king.36 36:21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. He went and got it from the room of Elishama, the royal secretary. Then he himself37 read it to the king and all the officials who were standing around him. 36:22 Since it was the ninth month of the year, the king was sitting in his winter quarters.38 A fire was burning in the firepot in front of him.39 36:23 As soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns40 of the scroll, the king41 would cut them off with a penknife42 and throw them on the fire in the firepot. He kept doing so until the whole scroll was burned up in the fire.43 36:24 Neither he nor any of his attendants showed any alarm when they heard all that had been read. Nor did they tear their clothes to show any grief or sorrow.44 36:25 The king didn't even listen to Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah, who had urged him not to burn the scroll.45 36:26 He even ordered Jerahmeel, one of the royal princes,46 Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelamiah son of Abdeel to arrest the scribe Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. (However, the LORD had hidden them.)
Baruch and Jeremiah Write Another Scroll
36:27 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah after Jehoiakim had burned the scroll containing what Jeremiah had spoken and Baruch had written down. He said,47 36:28 "Get another48 scroll and write on it everything49 that was written on the original scroll50 that King Jehoiakim of Judah burned. 36:29 And tell King Jehoiakim of Judah, `The LORD says, "You burned the scroll. And you asked51 Jeremiah, `How dare you write in this scroll that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and wipe out all the people and animals on it?'"52 36:30 So the LORD says concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah, "None of his line will occupy the throne of David.53 And his dead body will be thrown out to be exposed to scorching heat by day and frost by night.54 36:31 I will punish him and his descendants and the officials who serve him for the wicked things they have done.55 I will bring on them and the citizens of Jerusalem and the people of Judah all the disaster that I threatened to do to them. I will punish them because I threatened them but they still paid no heed."'"56 36:32 Then Jeremiah got another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah. And as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on this scroll everything that had been on the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah burned in the fire. They also added on this scroll several other messages of the same kind.57
Introduction to Incidents During the Reign of Zedekiah
37:1 Zedekiah son of Josiah followed Jeconiah1 son of Jehoiakim as king. He was elevated to the throne of the land of Judah by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.2 37:2 And neither he nor the officials who served him nor the people of Judah paid any attention to what the LORD said through the prophet Jeremiah.3
The LORD Responds to Zedekiah's Hope for Help
37:3 King Zedekiah sent4 Jehucal5 son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah6 son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah. He told them to say, "Please pray to the LORD our God on our behalf." 37:4 (Now Jeremiah had not yet been put in prison.7 So he was still free to come and go among the people as he pleased.8 37:5 At that time the Babylonian forces9 had temporarily given up their siege against Jerusalem. They had had it under siege, but withdrew when they heard that the army of Pharaoh had set out from Egypt.10) 37:6 The LORD gave the prophet Jeremiah a message for them. He told him to tell them,11 37:7 "The LORD God of Israel says, `Give a message to the king of Judah who sent you to ask me to help him.12 Tell him, "The army of Pharaoh that was on its way to help you will go back home to Egypt.13 37:8 Then the Babylonian forces14 will return. They will attack the city and will capture it and burn it down. 37:9 Moreover, I, the LORD, warn you not to deceive yourselves into thinking that the Babylonian forces15 will go away and leave you alone. For they will not go away.16 37:10 For even if you were to defeat all the Babylonian forces17 fighting against you so badly that only wounded men were left lying in their tents, they would get up and burn this city down."'"18
Jeremiah Charged with Deserting, Arrested, and Imprisoned
37:11 The following events also occurred19 while the Babylonian forces20 had temporarily withdrawn from Jerusalem because the army of Pharaoh was coming. 37:12 Jeremiah started out to leave Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin. He wanted to make sure he got his share of the property that was being divided up among his family there.21 37:13 But he only got as far as the Benjamin Gate.22 There an officer in charge of the guards named Irijah,23 who was the son of Shelemiah and the grandson of Hananiah, stopped him. He seized Jeremiah and said,24 "You are deserting to the Babylonians!"25 37:14 Jeremiah answered, "That's a lie! I am not deserting to the Babylonians."26 But Irijah wouldn't listen to him. Irijah put Jeremiah under arrest and took him to the officials. 37:15 The officials were very angry27 at Jeremiah. They had him flogged and put in prison in the house of Jonathan, the royal secretary, which they had converted into a place for confining prisoners.28
37:16 So29 Jeremiah was put in prison, in a cell in the dungeon in Jonathan's house.30 He31 was kept there for a long time. 37:17 Then King Zedekiah had him brought to the palace. There he questioned him privately and asked him,32 "Is there any message from the LORD?" Jeremiah answered, "Yes, there is." Then he added,33 "You will be handed over to the king of Babylon."34 37:18 Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, "What crime have I committed against you, or the officials who serve you, or the people of Judah? What have I done to make you people throw me into prison?35 37:19 Where now are the prophets who prophesied to you that36 the king of Babylon wouldn't attack you or this land? 37:20 But now please listen, your royal Majesty,37 and grant my plea for mercy.38 Don't send me back to the house of Jonathan, the royal secretary. If you do, I will die there."39 37:21 Then King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be committed to the courtyard of the guardhouse. He also ordered that a loaf of bread40 be given to him every day from the baker's street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah was kept41 in the courtyard of the guardhouse.
Jeremiah Is Charged with Treason and Put in a Cistern to Die
38:1 Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal1 son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur2 son of Malkijah had heard3 the things that Jeremiah had been telling the people. They had heard him say, 38:2 "The LORD says, `Those who stay in this city will die in battle or of starvation or disease.4 Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians5 will live. They will escape with their lives.'"6 38:3 They had also heard him say,7 "The LORD says, `This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon. They will capture it.'"8 38:4 So these officials said to the king, "This man must be put to death. For he is demoralizing9 the soldiers who are left in the city as well as all the other people there by these things he is saying.10 This11 man is not seeking to help these people but is trying to harm them."12 38:5 King Zedekiah said to them, "Very well, you can do what you want with him.13 For I cannot do anything to stop you."14 38:6 So the officials15 took Jeremiah and put him in the cistern16 of Malkijah, one of the royal princes,17 that was in the courtyard of the guardhouse. There was no water in the cistern, only mud. So when they lowered Jeremiah into the cistern with ropes he sank in the mud.18
An Ethiopian Official Rescues Jeremiah from the Cistern
38:7 An Ethiopian, Ebed Melech,19 a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put20 in the cistern. While the king was holding court21 at the Benjamin Gate, 38:8 Ebed Melech left the palace and went to speak to the king. He said to him, 38:9 "Your royal Majesty, those men have been very wicked in all that they have done to the prophet Jeremiah. They have thrown him into a cistern and he is sure to die of starvation there because there isn't any food left in the city.22 38:10 Then the king gave Ebed Melech the Ethiopian the following order: "Take thirty23 men with you from here and go pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies." 38:11 So Ebed Melech took the men with him and went to a room under the treasure room in the palace.24 He got some worn-out clothes and old rags25 from there and let them down by ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. 38:12 Ebed Melech26 called down to Jeremiah, "Put these rags and worn out clothes under your armpits to pad the ropes.27 Jeremiah did as Ebed Melech instructed.28 38:13 So they pulled Jeremiah up from the cistern with ropes. Jeremiah, however, still remained confined29 to the courtyard of the guardhouse.
Jeremiah Responds to Zedekiah's Request for Secret Advice
38:14 Some time later30 Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah brought to him at the third entrance31 of the LORD's temple. The king said to Jeremiah, "I would like to ask you a question. Don't hide anything from me when you answer."32 38:15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I answer you, you will certainly kill me.33 If I give you advice, you won't listen to me." 38:16 So King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah and sealed it with an oath. He promised,34 "As surely as the LORD lives who has given us life and breath,35 I promise you this: I will not kill you or hand you over to those men who want to kill you."36
38:17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "The LORD, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel,37 says, `You must by all means surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon. If you do, your life will be spared38 and this city will not be burned down. Indeed, you and your whole family will be spared. 38:18 But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians39 and they will burn it down. And you yourself will not escape from them.'"40 38:19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Babylonians.41 The Babylonians might hand me over to them and they will torture me."42 38:20 Then Jeremiah answered, "You won't be handed over to them. Please obey the LORD by doing what I have been telling you.43 Then all will go well with you and your life will be spared.44 38:21 But if you refuse to surrender, the LORD has shown me a vision of what will happen. Here is what I saw: 38:22 All the women who are left in the royal palace of Judah will be led out to the officers of the king of Babylon. They will taunt you saying,45
38:23 "All your wives and your children will be led out to the Babylonians.47 You yourself will not escape from them but will be captured by the48 king of Babylon. And this city will be burned down."49
38:24 Then Zedekiah told Jeremiah, "Don't let anyone know about the conversation we have had.50 If you do, you will die.51 38:25 The officials may hear that I have talked with you. They may come to you and say, `Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you.52 Don't hide anything from us. If you do, we will kill you.'53 38:26 If they do, tell54 them, `I was pleading with the king not to send me back to die in the dungeon of Jonathan's house.'"55 38:27 All the officials did come and question Jeremiah.56 He told them exactly what the king had instructed him to say.57 They gave up questioning him any further because no one had actually heard their conversation.58 38:28 So Jeremiah remained confined59 in the courtyard of the guardhouse until the day Jerusalem was captured.
The Fall of Jerusalem and Its Aftermath
The following events occurred when Jerusalem was captured.60
39:1King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. The siege began in the tenth month of the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah.1 39:2 It lasted until the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah's eleventh year.2 On that day they broke through the city walls. 39:3 Then Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim, a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer, a high official,3 and all the other officers of the king of Babylon came and set up quarters4 in the Middle Gate.5 39:4 When King Zedekiah of Judah and all his soldiers saw them, they tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They took a path through the king's garden and passed out through the gate between the two walls.6 Then they headed for the Jordan Valley.7 39:5 But the Babylonian8 army chased after them. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho and captured him.9 They took him to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon at Riblah10 in the territory of Hamath and Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him there. 39:6 There at Riblah the king of Babylon had Zedekiah's sons put to death while Zedekiah was looking on. The king of Babylon also had all the nobles of Judah put to death. 39:7 Then he had Zedekiah's eyes put out and had him bound in chains11 to be led off to Babylon. 39:8 The Babylonians12 burned down the royal palace, the temple of the LORD, and the people's homes13 and tore down the wall of Jerusalem.14 39:9 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard,15 took captive the rest of the people who were left in the city. He carried them off to Babylon along with the people who had deserted to him.16 39:10 But he17 left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing. He gave them fields and vineyards at that time.
39:11 Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had issued orders concerning Jeremiah. He had passed them on through Nebuzaradan, the captain of his royal guard. He had ordered,18 39:12 "Find Jeremiah19 and look out for him.20 Don't do anything to harm him21 but do with him whatever he tells you to." 39:13 So Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, Nebushazban, a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer, a high official,22 and all the other officers of the king of Babylon 39:14 sent and had Jeremiah brought from the courtyard of the guardhouse. They turned him over to Gedaliah,23 the son of Ahikam and the grandson of Shaphan, to take him home with him.24 But Jeremiah stayed among the people.25
Ebed Melech Is Promised Deliverance because of His Faith
39:15 26Now the LORD had spoken to Jeremiah while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse. He had said,27 39:16 "Go28 and tell Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, `The LORD God of Israel who rules over all says, "I am going to carry out against this city what I promised. It will mean disaster and not good fortune for it.29 When that disaster happens, you will be right there to see it.30 39:17 But I will rescue you when it does happen.31 I, the LORD, affirm it.32 You will not be handed over to those you are afraid of.33 39:18 I will certainly save you. You will not fall victim to violence.34 You will escape with your life35 because you trust in me. I, the LORD, affirm it."'"36
Jeremiah Is Set Free A Second Time
40:1 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah1 after Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, had set him free at Ramah.2 He had taken him there in chains3 along with all the people from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried off to exile to Babylon. 40:2 The captain of the royal guard took Jeremiah aside and said to him, "The LORD your God threatened this place with this disaster 40:3 and now he has brought it about. The LORD has done just what he threatened he would do. This disaster has happened because you people sinned against the LORD and did not obey him.4 40:4 But now, Jeremiah, today I am going to set you free5 from the chains on your wrists. If you would like to come to Babylon with me, come along and I will look out for you.6 But if you would prefer not to come to Babylon with me, you don't have to.7 You are free to go anywhere in the land you want to go.8 Go wherever you think is best and right."9 40:5 And before Jeremiah could turn to leave, the captain of the guard added, "Go back10 to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed to govern11 the towns of Judah. Go back and live with him12 among the people. Or go wherever else you think is right." Then the captain of the guard gave Jeremiah some food and a present and let him go. 40:6 So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah13 and lived there with him. He stayed there to live among the people who had been left in the land of Judah.14
A Small Judean Province is Established at Mizpah
40:7 Some of the officers of the Judean army and their troops had been hiding in the countryside. They heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam to govern15 the country. They also heard that he had been put in charge over the men, women, and children from the poorer classes of the land who had not been carried off into exile in Babylon.16 40:8 So17 all these officers and their troops came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The officers who came were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah son of the Maachathite.18 40:9 Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety.19 He said, "You don't need to be afraid to submit to the Babylonians.20 Settle down in the land and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you. 40:10 I for my part will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians21 whenever they come to us. You for your part go ahead and harvest the wine, the dates and figs,22 and the olive oil and store them in jars. Go ahead and settle down in the towns that you have taken over."23 40:11 Moreover, all the Judeans who were in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and all the other countries heard what had happened. They heard that the king of Babylon had let some people stay in Judah and that he had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, to govern them. 40:12 So all these Judeans returned to the land of Judah from the places where they had been scattered. They came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. And they harvested a large amount of wine and dates and figs.24
Ishmael Murders Gedaliah and Carries the Judeans at Mizpah off as Captives
40:13 Johanan and all the officers of the troops that had been hiding in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. 40:14 They said to him, "Are you at all aware25 that King Baalis of Ammon has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to kill you?" But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them. 40:15 Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah there at Mizpah. He said, "Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah before anyone knows about it. Otherwise he will kill you26 and all the Judeans who have rallied around you will be scattered. Then what is left of Judah will disappear." 40:16 But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, "Don't do that,27 because what you are saying about Ishmael isn't true."28
41:1 But in the seventh month1 Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family and had been one of Zedekiah's chief officers, came with ten of his men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating a meal together with him there at Mizpah, 41:2 Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him stood up, pulled out their swords, and killed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. Thus Ishmael killed the man that the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the country. 41:3 Ishmael also killed all the Judeans2 who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah and the Babylonian3 soldiers who happened to be4 there.
41:4 On the day after Gedaliah had been murdered, before anyone even knew about it, 41:5 eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria.5 They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes, and cut themselves to show their mourning.6 They were carrying grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem.7 41:6 Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them. He was pretending to cry8 as he walked along. When he met them, he said to them, "Come with me to meet Gedaliah son of Ahikam."9 41:7 But as soon as they were inside the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw their bodies10 in a cistern. 41:8 But there were ten men among them who said11 to Ishmael, "Don't kill us. For we will give you the stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey we have hidden in a field.12 So he let them alone and didn't kill13 them along with the rest.14 41:9 Now the cistern where Ishmael threw all the dead bodies of those he had killed was a large one15 that King Asa had constructed as part of his defenses against King Baasha of Israel.16 Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with dead bodies.17 41:10 Then Ishmael took captive all the people who were still left alive in Mizpah. This included the royal princesses18 and all the rest of the people in Mizpah that Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, had put under the authority of Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took all these people captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.
Johanan Rescues the People Ishmael Had Carried Off
41:11 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the atrocities19 that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed. 41:12 So they took all their troops and went to fight against Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the large pool20 at Gibeon. 41:13 When all the people that Ishmael had taken captive saw21 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him, they were glad. 41:14 All those people that Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah. 41:15 But Ishmael son of Nethaniah managed to escape from Johanan along with eight of his men, and he went on over to Ammon.
41:16 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led off all the people who had been left alive at Mizpah. They had rescued them from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. They led off the men, women, children, soldiers, and court officials whom they had brought away from Gibeon. 41:17 They set out to go to Egypt to get away from the Babylonians,22 but stopped at Geruth Kimham23 near Bethlehem. 41:18 They were afraid of what the Babylonians might do24 because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the country.
The Survivors Ask the LORD for Advice but Refuse to Follow It
42:1 Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah1 and all the people of every class,2 went to the prophet Jeremiah. 42:2 They said to him, "Please grant our request3 and pray to the LORD your God for all those of us who are still left alive here.4 For, as you yourself can see, there are only a few of us left out of the many there were before.5 42:3 Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do." 42:4 The prophet Jeremiah answered them, "Agreed!6 I will indeed pray to the LORD your God as you have asked. And I will tell you everything the LORD replies in response to you.7 I will not keep anything back from you." 42:5 They answered Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not do just exactly what8 the LORD sends you to tell us to do. 42:6 We will obey what the LORD our God to whom we are sending you tells us to do. It doesn't matter whether we like what he tells us or not. We will obey what he tells us to do so that things will go well for us."9
42:7 Ten days later the LORD spoke to Jeremiah. 42:8 So Jeremiah summoned Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all the people of every class.10 42:9 Then Jeremiah said to them, "You sent me to the LORD God of Israel to make your request known to him. Here is what he says to you:11 42:10 `If you will just stay12 in this land, I will build you up. I will not tear you down. I will firmly plant you.13 I will not uproot you. For I am filled with sorrow because of the disaster that I have brought on you. 42:11 Don't be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear.14 Don't be afraid of him, for I will be with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. I, the LORD, affirm it.15 42:12 I will have compassion on you so that he in turn will have mercy on you and let you return to your land.'
42:13 "You must not disobey the LORD your God by saying, `We won't stay in this land.' 42:14 You must not say, `No, we won't stay. Instead we will go and live in the land of Egypt where we won't have to face war,16 or hear the enemy's trumpet calls,17 or starve for lack of food.'18 42:15 If you people who are left in Judah do that, then listen to what the LORD says. The LORD God of Israel who rules over all19 says, `If you are so determined20 to go to Egypt that you do go and settle there, 42:16 the wars you fear will catch up with you there in the land of Egypt. The starvation you're worried about will follow you there to21 Egypt. And you will die there.22 42:17 All the people who are determined to go and settle in Egypt will die in war or of starvation or disease. No one will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.' 42:18 For23 the LORD God of Israel who rules over all24 says, `If you go to Egypt, I will pour out my wrath on you just as I poured out my anger and wrath on the citizens of Jerusalem. You will become an object of horror and of ridicule, an example of those who have been cursed and that people use in pronouncing a curse.25 You will never see this place26 again.'
42:19 "The LORD has told you people who are left in Judah, `Don't go to Egypt.' Be very sure of this: I warn you27 here and now28 42:20 that you are making a fatal mistake.29 For you sent me to the LORD your God and asked me to pray to the LORD our God for you. You said, `Tell us just exactly what the LORD our God says and we will do it.'30 42:21 This day31 I have told you what he said.32 But you don't seem to want to obey the LORD by doing everything he sent me to tell you.33 42:22 So now be very sure of this: You will die in war or of starvation or disease in the place where you want to go and live."
43:1 Jeremiah finished telling all the people all these things the LORD their God had sent him to tell them.1 43:2 Then Azariah2 son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and other arrogant men said to Jeremiah, "You are telling a lie. The LORD our God did not send you to tell us, `You must not go to Egypt and settle there.' 43:3 But Baruch son of Neriah is stirring you up against3 us. He wants to hand us over4 to the Babylonians5 so that they will kill us or carry us off into exile in Babylon." 43:4 So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the rest of the people did not obey the LORD's command to stay in the land. 43:5 Instead Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led off all the Judean remnant who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered.6 43:6 They also led off all the men, women, children, and royal princesses7 that Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, had left with Gedaliah,8 the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. This included the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch son of Neriah. 43:7 They went on to Egypt9 because they refused to obey the LORD. They went to Tahpanhes.10
Jeremiah Predicts that Nebuchadnezzar Will Plunder Egypt and its Gods
43:8 At Tahpanhes the LORD spoke to Jeremiah. He said,11 43:9 "Take some large stones12 and bury them in the mortar of the clay pavement13 at the entrance of Pharaoh's house14 here in Tahpanhes. Do it while the people of Judah present there are watching.15 43:10 Then tell them,16 `The LORD God of Israel who rules over all17 says, "I am going to bring18 my servant19 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will set his throne over these stones which I20 have buried. And he will pitch his royal tent21 over them. 43:11 He will come and attack Egypt. Those who are destined to die of disease will die of disease. Those who are destined to be carried off into exile will be carried off into exile. Those who are destined to die in war will die in war.22 43:12 He will set fire23 to the temples of the gods of Egypt. He will burn their gods or carry them off as captives.24 He will pick Egypt clean like a shepherd picks the lice from his clothing25 and will leave there unharmed.26 43:13 He will demolish the sacred pillars in the temple of the sun27 in Egypt and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt."'"
The LORD Will Punish the Judean Exiles in Egypt for Their Idolatry
44:1 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah concerning1 all the Judeans who were living in the land of Egypt, those in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in the region of southern Egypt.2 He said, 44:2 "The LORD God of Israel who rules over all3 says, `You have seen all the disaster I brought on Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah. Indeed, they now lie in ruins and are deserted4 44:3 because of the wicked thing the people living there did.5 They made me angry6 by going to worship and offer sacrifice to7 other gods whom neither they nor you nor your ancestors8 knew before.9 44:4 I sent my servants the prophets to you people over and over10 again warning you not to do this disgusting thing I hate.11 44:5 But the people of Jerusalem and Judah12 would not listen or pay any attention. They would not stop the wicked thing they were doing and quit sacrificing to other gods.13 44:6 So my anger and my wrath were poured out and burned like a fire through the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. That is why they have become the desolate ruins that they are today.'
44:7 "So now the LORD, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel,14 asks, `Why will you do such great harm to yourselves? Why should every man, woman, child, and baby of yours be destroyed from the midst of Judah? Why should you leave yourselves with a remnant? 44:8 That is what will come from your making me angry by what you are doing.15 You are making me angry by sacrificing to other gods here in the land of Egypt where you have come to live. You will be destroyed for doing that! You will become an example used in curses16 and an object of ridicule among all the nations of the earth.17 44:9 Have you forgotten all the wicked things that have been done in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem by your ancestors, by the kings of Judah and their18 wives, and by you and your wives? 44:10 To this day your people19 have shown no contrition! They have not revered me or followed the laws and statutes I gave20 you and your ancestors.'
44:11 "Because of this, the LORD God of Israel who rules over all says, `I am determined to bring disaster on you,21 even to the point of destroying all the Judeans here.22 44:12 I will see to it that all the Judean remnant that were determined to go23 and live in the land of Egypt will be destroyed. Here in the land of Egypt they will fall in battle24 or perish from starvation. People of every class25 will die in war or of starvation. They will become an object of horror and of ridicule, an example of those who have been cursed and that people use in pronouncing a curse.26 44:13 I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt with war, starvation, and disease just as I punished Jerusalem. 44:14 None of the Judean remnant who have come to live in the land of Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah. Though they long to return and live there, none of them shall return except a few fugitives.'"27
44:15 Then all the men who were aware that their wives were sacrificing to other gods and all their wives answered Jeremiah. There was a great crowd of them representing all the people who lived in northern and southern Egypt.28 They answered, 44:16 "We will not listen to what you claim the LORD has spoken to us.29 44:17 Instead we will do everything we vowed we would do.30 We will sacrifice and pour out drink offerings to the goddess called the Queen of Heaven31 as we and our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders used to do in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food and were well-off and had no troubles.32 44:18 But ever since we stopped sacrificing and pouring out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven, we have been in great need. And our people have died in wars or of starvation."33 44:19 And the women added,34 "We did indeed sacrifice and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven. But it was with the full knowledge and approval of our husbands that we made cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her."35
44:20 Then Jeremiah replied to all the people, both men and women, who responded to him in this way.36 He said, 44:21 "The LORD did indeed remember and call to mind what you did. He remembered the sacrifices you and your ancestors, your kings and your leaders, and all the rest of the people of the land offered to other gods37 in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.38 44:22 Finally the LORD could no longer endure your wicked deeds and the disgusting things you did. That is why your land has become the desolate, uninhabited ruin that it is today. That is why it has become a proverbial example to be used in a curse.39 44:23 You have sacrificed to other gods. You have sinned against the LORD. You have not obeyed the LORD. You have not followed his laws, his statutes, and his decrees. That is why this disaster that is evident to this day has happened to you."40
44:24 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people, particularly to all the women.41 He said, "Listen to what the LORD has to say all you people of Judah who are in Egypt. 44:25 The LORD God of Israel who rules over all says, `You women42 have confirmed by your actions what you vowed with your lips. You said, "We will certainly carry out our vows to sacrifice and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven." Well, then fulfill your vows! Carry them out!'43 44:26 But44 listen to what the LORD has to say, all you people of Judah who are living in the land of Egypt. The LORD says, `I hereby swear by my own great name that none of the people of Judah who are living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name in their oaths. Never again will any of them use it in an oath saying, "As surely as the Lord GOD lives...."45 44:27 I will indeed46 see to it that disaster, not good things, happen to them.47 All the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will die either in war or of starvation until not a one of them is left. 44:28 Some who survive in battle will return to the land of Judah from the land of Egypt. But they will be very few indeed!48 Then the Judean remnant who have come to live in the land of Egypt will know whose word proves true,49 mine or theirs.' 44:29 Moreover, the LORD says,50 `I will make something happen to prove that I will punish you in this place. I will do it so that you will know that my threats to bring disaster on you will prove true.51 44:30 I, the LORD, promise that52 I will hand Pharaoh Hophra53 king of Egypt over to his enemies who are seeking to kill him. I will do that just as surely as I handed King Zedekiah of Judah over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, his enemy who was seeking to kill him.'"
Baruch is Rebuked but also Comforted
45:1 The prophet Jeremiah spoke to Baruch son of Neriah while he was writing down in a scroll the words that Jeremiah spoke to him.1 This happened in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling over Judah.2 He said, 45:2 "The LORD God of Israel has a message for you, Baruch. He says, 45:3 `You have said, "I feel so hopeless!3 For the LORD has added sorrow to my suffering.4 I am worn out from groaning. I can't find any rest."'"
45:4 The LORD told Jeremiah,5 "Tell Baruch,6 `The LORD says, "I am about to tear down what I have built and to uproot what I have planted. I will do this throughout the whole earth.7 45:5 Are you looking for great things for yourself? Do not look for such things. For I, the LORD, affirm8 that I am about to bring disaster on all mankind.9 But I will let you escape with your life10 wherever you go."'"
Prophecies Against Foreign Nations11
46:1 The LORD spoke to Jeremiah about the nations.1
The Prophecy about Egypt's Defeat at Carchemish
46:2 He spoke about Egypt. He spoke about the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt which was encamped along the Euphrates River at Carchemish. [It was that army that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling2 over Judah.]3 He said,
The LORD Predicts that Nebuchadnezzar Will Attack and Plunder Egypt
46:13 The LORD spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about Nebuchadnezzar coming to attack the land of Egypt.24 He said,
46:25 The LORD God of Israel who rules over all48 says, "I am going to punish Amon, the god of Thebes.49 I am going to punish Egypt, its gods, and its kings. I am going to punish Pharaoh and all who trust in him.50 46:26 I am going to hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar and his troops, who want to kill them. But later on, people will live in Egypt again as they did in former times. I, the LORD, affirm it."51
A Promise of Hope for Israel
Judgment on the Philistine Cities
47:1 The LORD spoke to the prophet Jeremiah1 about the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza.2
47:2 The LORD said,
Judgment Against Moab
48:1The LORD God of Israel who rules over all1 spoke about Moab.2 He said,
48:21 "Judgment will come on the cities on the high plain:34 on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath, 48:22 on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim, 48:23 on Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon, 48:24 on Kerioth and Bozrah. It will come on all the towns of Moab, both far and near. 48:25 Moab's might will be crushed. Its power will be broken.35 I, the LORD, affirm it.36
The judgment against Moab ends here.
Judgment Against Ammon
49:1 The LORD spoke about the Ammonites.1 He said:
Judgment Against Edom
49:7 The LORD who rules over all17 spoke about Edom.18 He said:
49:12 For the LORD says, "If even those who did not deserve to drink from the cup of my wrath have to drink from it, do you think you will go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but will certainly drink from the cup of my wrath.28 49:13 For I solemnly swear,"29 says the LORD, "that Bozrah30 will become a pile of ruins. It will become an object of horror and of ridicule, and an example to be used in curses.31 And all the towns around it will lie in ruins forever."
Judgment Against Damascus
49:23 The LORD spoke about Damascus.51 He said:52
Judgment Against Kedar and Hazor
49:28 The LORD spoke about Kedar60 and the kingdoms of Hazor61 that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered. He said:
Judgment Against Elam
49:34 Early in the reign76 of King Zedekiah of Judah, the LORD spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam.77 49:35 The LORD who rules over all said,
Judgment Against Babylon
50:1 The LORD spoke concerning Babylon and the land of Babylonia1 through the prophet Jeremiah.2 He said:
51:59 This is the order Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went to King Zedekiah of Judah in Babylon during the fourth year of his reign.131 (Seraiah was a quartermaster.)132 51:60 Jeremiah recorded133 on one scroll all the judgments134 that would come upon Babylon--all these prophecies135 written about Babylon. 51:61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "When you arrive in Babylon, make sure136 you read aloud all these prophecies.137 51:62 Then say, `O LORD, you have announced that you will destroy this place so that no people or animals live in it any longer. Certainly it will lie desolate forever!' 51:63 When you finish reading this scroll aloud, tie a stone around it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River.138 51:64 Then say, `In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the judgments139 I am ready to bring upon her; they will grow faint.'"
The prophecies of Jeremiah end here.140
The Fall of Jerusalem
52:11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal2 daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 52:2 He did what displeased the LORD,3 exactly like Jehoiakim had done.
52:3 What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the LORD's anger; he finally drove them out of his sight.4 Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 52:4 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside5 it. They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah.6 52:5 The city remained under siege until Zedekiah's eleventh year. 52:6 By the ninth day of the fourth month7 the famine in the city was so severe the residents8 had no food. 52:7 They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king's garden.9 (The Babylonians were all around the city.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley.10 52:8 But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and his entire army deserted him. 52:9 They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah11 in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there. 52:10 The king of Babylon had Zedekiah's sons put to death while Zedekiah was looking on. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah. 52:11 He had Zedekiah's eyes put out and had him bound in chains.12 Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died.
52:12 On the tenth13 day of the fifth month,14 in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard15 who served16 the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. 52:13 He burned down the LORD's temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house. 52:14 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. 52:15 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor,17 the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the rest of the craftsmen. 52:16 But he18 left behind some of the poor19 and gave them fields and vineyards.
52:17 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the LORD, as well as the movable stands and the big bronze basin called the "The Sea."20 They took all the bronze to Babylon. 52:18 They also took the pots, shovels,21 trimming shears,22 basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests.23 52:19 The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers,24 basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels.25 52:20 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the LORD's temple (including the two pillars, the big bronze basin called "The Sea," the twelve bronze bulls under "The Sea," and the movable stands26) was too heavy to be weighed. 52:21 Each of the pillars was about twenty-seven feet27 high, about eighteen feet28 in circumference, four fingers thick, and hollow. 52:22 The bronze top of one pillar was about seven-and-a-half feet29 high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it. 52:23 There were ninety-six pomegranate-shaped ornaments on the sides; in all there were one hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments over the latticework that went around it.
52:24 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers.30 52:25 From the city he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers, seven of the king's advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens31 for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city. 52:26 Nebuzaradan, captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 52:27 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed32 at Riblah in the territory of Hamath.
So Judah was taken into exile away from its land. 52:28 Here is the official record of the number of people33 Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: In the seventh year,34 3,023 Jews; 52:29 in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year,35 832 people from Jerusalem; 52:30 in Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-third year,36 Nebuzaradan, captain of the royal guard, carried into exile 745 Jews. In all 4,600 people went into exile.
Jehoiachin in Exile
52:31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-fifth37 day of the twelfth month,38 Evil-Merodach, in the first year of his reign, pardoned39 King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. 52:32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than40 the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 52:33 Jehoiachin41 took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king's presence for the rest of his life. 52:34 He was given daily provisions by the king of Babylon for the rest of his life until the day he died.