A Prophecy against Zedekiah

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all its cities, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, `Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him: “Thus says the LORD, `Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire. 3 `You will not escape from his hand, for you will surely be captured and delivered into his hand; and you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you face to face, and you will go to Babylon.” 4 “Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the LORD concerning you, `You will not die by the sword. 5 `You will die in peace; and as {spices} were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will burn {spices} for you; and they will lament for you, “Alas, lord!’ For I have spoken the word, declares the LORD.

 6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem 7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the remaining cities of Judah, {that is,} Lachish and Azekah, for they {alone} remained as fortified cities among the cities of Judah.

 8 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim release to them: 9 that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman; so that no one should keep them, a Jew his brother, in bondage. 10 And all the officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant, so that no one should keep them any longer in bondage; they obeyed, and set {them free.} 11 But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection for male servants and for female servants.

 12 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 13 “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, `I made a covenant with your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying, 14 “At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has been sold to you and has served you six years, you shall send him out free from you; but your forefathers did not obey Me or incline their ear to Me. 15 “Although recently you {had} turned and done what is right in My sight, each man proclaiming release to his neighbor, and you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name. 16 “Yet you turned and profaned My name, and each man took back his male servant and each man his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male servants and female servants.’

 17 “Therefore thus says the LORD, `You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you,’ declares the LORD, `to the sword, to the pestilence and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 `I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, {when} they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts– 19 the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf– 20 I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. 21 `Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has gone away from you. 22 `Behold, I am going to command,’ declares the LORD, `and I will bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’

Restoration Promised

1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD who made {the earth,} the LORD who formed it to establish it, the LORD is His name, 3 `Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ 4 “For thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah which are broken down {to make a defense} against the siege ramps and against the sword, 5 `While {they} are coming to fight with the Chaldeans and to fill them with the corpses of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath, and I have hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness: 6 `Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. 7 `I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first. 8 `I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me. 9 `It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.’

 10 “Thus says the LORD, `Yet again there will be heard in this place, of which you say, “It is a waste, without man and without beast, {that is,} in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, 11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say,
“Give thanks to the LORD of hosts,
For the LORD is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
{and of those} who bring a thank offering into the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ says the LORD.

 12 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, `There will again be in this place which is waste, without man or beast, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds who rest their flocks. 13 `In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who numbers them,’ says the LORD.

The Davidic Kingdom

 14 `Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, `when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 `In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. 16 `In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is {the name} by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.’ 17 “For thus says the LORD, `David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually.’

 19 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 20 “Thus says the LORD, `If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, 21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. 22 `As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’

 23 And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 “Have you not observed what this people have spoken, saying, `The two families which the LORD chose, He has rejected them’? Thus they despise My people, no longer are they as a nation in their sight. 25 “Thus says the LORD, `If My covenant {for} day and night {stand} not, {and} the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, 26 then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.’

Jeremiah Imprisoned

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which {was in} the house of the king of Judah, 3 because Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy, saying, `Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it; 4 and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye; 5 and he will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him, declares the LORD. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed’?

 6 And Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 7 `Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy {it.}’ 8 “Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the LORD and said to me, `Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy {it} for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

 9 “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 “I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11 “Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed {copy containing} the terms and conditions and the open {copy;} 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s {son} and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13 “And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, 14 `Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time. 15 `For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’

Jeremiah Prays and God Explains

 16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I prayed to the LORD, saying, 17 `Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, 18 who shows lovingkindness to thousands, but repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O great and mighty God. The LORD of hosts is His name; 19 great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds; 20 who has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, {and} even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have made a name for Yourself, as at this day. 21 `You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror; 22 and gave them this land, which You swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 `They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made all this calamity come upon them. 24 `Behold, the siege ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, the famine and the pestilence; and what You have spoken has come to pass; and behold, You see {it.} 25 `You have said to me, O Lord GOD, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses–although the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’

 26 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me? 28 Therefore thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it. 29 “The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will enter and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses where {people} have offered incense to Baal on their roofs and poured out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger. 30 “Indeed the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only evil in My sight from their youth; for the sons of Israel have been only provoking Me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD. 31 “Indeed this city has been to Me {a} {provocation of} My anger and My wrath from the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be removed from before My face, 32 because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger–they, their kings, their leaders, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 “They have turned {their} back to Me and not {their} face; though {I} taught them, teaching again and again, they would not listen and receive instruction. 34 “But they put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 35 “They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through {the fire} to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

 36 “Now therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning this city of which you say, `It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine and by pestilence.’ 37 “Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. 38 “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for {the good of} their children after them. 40 “I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. 41 “I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul. 42 “For thus says the LORD, `Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them. 43 `Fields will be bought in this land of which you say, “It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. 44 `Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes,’ declares the LORD.

Israel’s Mourning Turned to Joy

1 “At that time, declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.

 2
Thus says the LORD,
“The people who survived the sword
Found grace in the wilderness–
Israel, when it went to find its rest. 3
The LORD appeared to him from afar, {saying,}
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness. 4
“Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
Again you will take up your tambourines,
And go forth to the dances of the merrymakers. 5
“Again you will plant vineyards
On the hills of Samaria;
The planters will plant
And will enjoy {them.} 6
“For there will be a day when watchmen
On the hills of Ephraim call out,
`Arise, and let us go up {to} Zion,
To the LORD our God.’

 7
For thus says the LORD,
“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
And shout among the chief of the nations;
Proclaim, give praise and say,
`O LORD, save Your people,
The remnant of Israel.’ 8
“Behold, I am bringing them from the north country,
And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth,
Among them the blind and the lame,
The woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together;
A great company, they will return here. 9
“With weeping they will come,
And by supplication I will lead them;
I will make them walk by streams of waters,
On a straight path in which they will not stumble;
For I am a father to Israel,
And Ephraim is My firstborn.

 10
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
And declare in the coastlands afar off,
And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him
And keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock. 11
For the LORD has ransomed Jacob
And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he. 12
“They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion,
And they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD–
Over the grain and the new wine and the oil,
And over the young of the flock and the herd;
And their life will be like a watered garden,
And they will never languish again. 13
“Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,
And the young men and the old, together,
For I will turn their mourning into joy
And will comfort them and give them joy for their sorrow. 14
“I will fill the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people will be satisfied with My goodness, declares the LORD.

 15
Thus says the LORD,
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
Lamentation {and} bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
She refuses to be comforted for her children,
Because they are no more.

 16 Thus says the LORD,
“Restrain your voice from weeping
And your eyes from tears;
For your work will be rewarded, declares the LORD,
“And they will return from the land of the enemy. 17
“There is hope for your future, declares the LORD,
“And {your} children will return to their own territory. 18
“I have surely heard Ephraim grieving,
`You have chastised me, and I was chastised,
Like an untrained calf;
Bring me back that I may be restored,
For You are the LORD my God. 19
`For after I turned back, I repented;
And after I was instructed, I smote on {my} thigh;
I was ashamed and also humiliated
Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’ 20
“Is Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a delightful child?
Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him,
I certainly {still} remember him;
Therefore My heart yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD.

 21
“Set up for yourself roadmarks,
Place for yourself guideposts;
Direct your mind to the highway,
The way by which you went.
Return, O virgin of Israel,
Return to these your cities. 22
“How long will you go here and there,
O faithless daughter?
For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth–
A woman will encompass a man.

 23 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their fortunes,
`The LORD bless you, O abode of righteousness,
O holy hill!’

 24 “Judah and all its cities will dwell together in it, the farmer and they who go about with flocks. 25 “For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes. 26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

A New Covenant

 27 “Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. 28 “As I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to overthrow, to destroy and to bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD. 29
“In those days they will not say again,
`The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

 30 “But everyone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge.

 31 “Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares the LORD. 33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, `Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.

 35
Thus says the LORD,
Who gives the sun for light by day
And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar;
The LORD of hosts is His name: 36
“If this fixed order departs
From before Me, declares the LORD,
“Then the offspring of Israel also will cease
From being a nation before Me forever.

 37 Thus says the LORD,
“If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel
For all that they have done, declares the LORD.

 38 “Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, “when the city will be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 “The measuring line will go out farther straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. 40 “And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD; it will not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.

Deliverance from Captivity Promised

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, `Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. 3 `For behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, `when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The LORD says, `I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it.’

 4 Now these are the words which the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah:

 5 “For thus says the LORD,
`I have heard a sound of terror,
Of dread, and there is no peace. 6
`Ask now, and see
If a male can give birth.
Why do I see every man
{With} his hands on his loins, as a woman in childbirth?
And {why} have all faces turned pale? 7
`Alas! for that day is great,
There is none like it;
And it is the time of Jacob’s distress,
But he will be saved from it.

 8 `It shall come about on that day,’ declares the LORD of hosts, `that I will break his yoke from off their neck and will tear off their bonds; and strangers will no longer make them their slaves. 9 `But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. 10
`Fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ declares the LORD,
`And do not be dismayed, O Israel;
For behold, I will save you from afar
And your offspring from the land of their captivity.
And Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease,
And no one will make him afraid. 11
`For I am with you,’ declares the LORD, `to save you;
For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you,
Only I will not destroy you completely.
But I will chasten you justly
And will by no means leave you unpunished.’

 12
“For thus says the LORD,
`Your wound is incurable
And your injury is serious. 13
`There is no one to plead your cause;
{No} healing for {your} sore,
No recovery for you. 14
`All your lovers have forgotten you,
They do not seek you;
For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy,
With the punishment of a cruel one,
Because your iniquity is great
{And} your sins are numerous. 15
`Why do you cry out over your injury?
Your pain is incurable.
Because your iniquity is great
{And} your sins are numerous,
I have done these things to you. 16
`Therefore all who devour you will be devoured;
And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity;
And those who plunder you will be for plunder,
And all who prey upon you I will give for prey. 17
`For I will restore you to health
And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares the LORD,
`Because they have called you an outcast, saying:
“It is Zion; no one cares for her.’

Restoration of Jacob

 18
“Thus says the LORD,
`Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
And have compassion on his dwelling places;
And the city will be rebuilt on its ruin,
And the palace will stand on its rightful place. 19
`From them will proceed thanksgiving
And the voice of those who celebrate;
And I will multiply them and they will not be diminished;
I will also honor them and they will not be insignificant. 20
`Their children also will be as formerly,
And their congregation shall be established before Me;
And I will punish all their oppressors. 21
`Their leader shall be one of them,
And their ruler shall come forth from their midst;
And I will bring him near and he shall approach Me;
For who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?’ declares the LORD. 22
`You shall be My people,
And I will be your God.’

 23
Behold, the tempest of the LORD!
Wrath has gone forth,
A sweeping tempest;
It will burst on the head of the wicked. 24
The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back
Until He has performed and until He has accomplished
The intent of His heart;
In the latter days you will understand this.

Message to the Exiles

1 Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the court officials, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) 3 {The letter was sent} by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, 4 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, 5 `Build houses and live {in them;} and plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 `Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. 7 `Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.’ 8 “For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, `Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. 9 `For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the LORD.

 10 “For thus says the LORD, `When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 `For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, `plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 `Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 `You will seek Me and find {Me} when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 `I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, `and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, `and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

 15 “Because you have said, `The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon’– 16 for thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile– 17 thus says the LORD of hosts, `Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, famine and pestilence, and I will make them like split-open figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness. 18 `I will pursue them with the sword, with famine and with pestilence; and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and a horror and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they have not listened to My words,’ declares the LORD, `which I sent to them again and again by My servants the prophets; but you did not listen,’ declares the LORD. 20 “You, therefore, hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

 21 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you falsely in My name, `Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will slay them before your eyes. 22 `Because of them a curse will be used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire, 23 because they have acted foolishly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken words in My name falsely, which I did not command them; and I am He who knows and am a witness, declares the LORD.’

 24 To Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying, 25 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, `Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26 “The LORD has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the overseer in the house of the LORD over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and in the iron collar, 27 now then, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who prophesies to you? 28 “For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, `{The exile} will be long; build houses and live {in them} and plant gardens and eat their produce.”

 29 Zephaniah the priest read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying, 31 “Send to all the exiles, saying, `Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite, “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie, 32 therefore thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants; he will not have anyone living among this people, and he will not see the good that I am about to do to My people, declares the LORD, “because he has preached rebellion against the LORD.’

Hananiah’s False Prophecy

1 Now in the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, `I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 `Within two years I am going to bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD’S house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4 `I am also going to bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the LORD, `for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’

 5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD, 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD confirm your words which you have prophesied to bring back the vessels of the LORD’S house and all the exiles, from Babylon to this place. 7 “Yet hear now this word which I am about to speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people! 8 “The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of calamity and of pestilence. 9 “The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then that prophet will be known {as} one whom the LORD has truly sent.

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

 12 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, 13 “Go and speak to Hananiah, saying, `Thus says the LORD, “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made instead of them yokes of iron. 14 `For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they will serve him. And I have also given him the beasts of the field.’ 15 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen now, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. 16 “Therefore thus says the LORD, `Behold, I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to die, because you have counseled rebellion against the LORD.’

 17 So Hananiah the prophet died in the same year in the seventh month.

The Nations to Submit to Nebuchadnezzar

1 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying– 2 thus says the LORD to me–“Make for yourself bonds and yokes and put them on your neck, 3 and send word to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the sons of Ammon, to the king of Tyre and to the king of Sidon by the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 “Command them {to go} to their masters, saying, `Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, thus you shall say to your masters, 5 “I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight. 6 “Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have given him also the wild animals of the field to serve him. 7 “All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will make him their servant.

 8 “It will be, {that} the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine and with pestilence, declares the LORD, “until I have destroyed it by his hand. 9 “But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers or your sorcerers who speak to you, saying, `You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 “For they prophesy a lie to you in order to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out and you will perish. 11 “But the nation which will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let remain on its land, declares the LORD, “and they will till it and dwell in it.’

 12 I spoke words like all these to Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live! 13 “Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, famine and pestilence, as the LORD has spoken to that nation which will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 “So do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, `You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a lie to you; 15 for I have not sent them, declares the LORD, “but they prophesy falsely in My name, in order that I may drive you out and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.

 16 {Then} I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, `Behold, the vessels of the LORD’S house will now shortly be brought again from Babylon’; for they are prophesying a lie to you. 17 “Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city become a ruin? 18 “But if they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them now entreat the LORD of hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. 19 “For thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, concerning the sea, concerning the stands and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. 21 “Yes, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the LORD and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem, 22 `They will be carried to Babylon and they will be there until the day I visit them,’ declares the LORD. `Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’

Cities of Judah Warned

1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the LORD, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD, `Stand in the court of the LORD’S house, and speak to all the cities of Judah who have come to worship {in} the LORD’S house all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not omit a word! 3 `Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.’ 4 “And you will say to them, `Thus says the LORD, “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, 5 to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened; 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth.’

A Plot to Murder Jeremiah

 7 The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD. 8 When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded {him} to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You must die! 9 “Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD saying, `This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate, without inhabitant’? And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

 10 When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the LORD and sat in the entrance of the New Gate of the LORD’S {house.} 11 Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied against this city as you have heard in your hearing.

 12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. 13 “Now therefore amend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will change His mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you. 14 “But as for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your sight. 15 “Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city and on its inhabitants; for truly the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.

Jeremiah Is Spared

 16 Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets, “No death sentence for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God. 17 Then some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying, 18 “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, `Thus the LORD of hosts has said,
“Zion will be plowed {as} a field,
And Jerusalem will become ruins,
And the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.’

 19 “Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the LORD and entreat the favor of the LORD, and the LORD changed His mind about the misfortune which He had pronounced against them? But we are committing a great evil against ourselves.

 20 Indeed, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah. 21 When King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and all the officials heard his words, then the king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard {it,} and he was afraid and fled and went to Egypt. 22 Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor and {certain} men with him {went} into Egypt. 23 And they brought Uriah from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who slew him with a sword and cast his dead body into the burial place of the common people.

 24 But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was not given into the hands of the people to put him to death.

Prophecy of the Captivity

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 3 “From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. 4 “And the LORD has sent to you all His servants the prophets again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear, 5 saying, `Turn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and dwell on the land which the LORD has given to you and your forefathers forever and ever; 6 and do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no harm.’ 7 “Yet you have not listened to Me, declares the LORD, “in order that you might provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.

 8 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, `Because you have not obeyed My words, 9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ declares the LORD, `and {I will send} to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 `Moreover, I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 `This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Babylon Will Be Judged

 12 `Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the LORD, `for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation. 13 `I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. 14 `(For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)’

 15 For thus the LORD, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. 16 “They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.

 17 Then I took the cup from the LORD’S hand and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings {and} its princes, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing and a curse, as it is this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes and all his people; 20 and all the foreign people, all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab and the sons of Ammon; 22 and all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon and the kings of the coastlands which are beyond the sea; 23 and Dedan, Tema, Buz and all who cut the corners {of their hair;} 24 and all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who dwell in the desert; 25 and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam and all the kings of Media; 26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

 27 “You shall say to them, `Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you.’ 28 “And it will be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, `Thus says the LORD of hosts: “You shall surely drink! 29 “For behold, I am beginning to work calamity in {this} city which is called by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment; for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.’

 30 “Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them,
`The LORD will roar from on high
And utter His voice from His holy habitation;
He will roar mightily against His fold.
He will shout like those who tread {the grapes,}
Against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31
`A clamor has come to the end of the earth,
Because the LORD has a controversy with the nations.
He is entering into judgment with all flesh;
As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ declares the LORD.

 32
Thus says the LORD of hosts,
“Behold, evil is going forth
From nation to nation,
And a great storm is being stirred up
From the remotest parts of the earth.

 33 “Those slain by the LORD on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be lamented, gathered or buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground. 34
“Wail, you shepherds, and cry;
And wallow {in ashes,} you masters of the flock;
For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions have come,
And you will fall like a choice vessel. 35
“Flight will perish from the shepherds,
And escape from the masters of the flock. 36
“{Hear} the sound of the cry of the shepherds,
And the wailing of the masters of the flock!
For the LORD is destroying their pasture, 37
“And the peaceful folds are made silent
Because of the fierce anger of the LORD. 38
“He has left His hiding place like the lion;
For their land has become a horror
Because of the fierceness of the oppressing {sword}
And because of His fierce anger.