10When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the LORD and sat down in the entry of the New Gate of the LORD’s house.
11And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and all the people, saying, 1“This man deserves to kdie! For he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.”
12Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying: “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all the words that you have heard.
13“Now therefore, lamend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; then the LORD will relent concerning the doom that He has pronounced against you.
14“As for me, here mI am, in your hand; do with me as seems good and 2proper to you.
15“But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for truly the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”
16So the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve to die. For he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.”
17nThen certain of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying:
18o“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts:
p“Zion shall be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem shall become qheaps of ruins,
And the mountain of the 3temple
Like the 4bare hills of the forest.” ’
19“Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death? rDid he not fear the LORD and sseek the LORD’s favor? And the LORD trelented concerning the doom which He had pronounced against them. uBut we are doing great evil against ourselves.”
20Now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath Jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.
21And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt.
22Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor, and other men who went with him to Egypt.
23And they brought Urijah from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the 5common people.
24Nevertheless vthe hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
Jeremiah 27
Symbol of the Bonds and Yokes
1In1 the beginning of the reign of 2Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, aking of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2“Thus says the LORD to me: ‘Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, band put them on your neck,
3‘and send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
4‘And command them to say to their masters, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel—thus you shall say to your masters:
5c‘I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and dhave given it to whom it seemed proper to Me.
6e‘And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, fMy servant; and gthe beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him.
7h‘So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, iuntil the time of his land comes; jand then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them.
8‘And it shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,’ says the LORD, ‘with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
9‘Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your 3dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon.”
10‘For they prophesy a klie to you, to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out, and you will perish.
11‘But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let them remain in their own land,’ says the LORD, ‘and they shall till it and dwell in it.’ ” ’ ”
12I also spoke to lZedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live!
13m“Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
14“Therefore ndo not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy oa lie to you;
15“for I have pnot sent them,” says the LORD, “yet they prophesy a lie in My name, that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”
16Also 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, qthe vessels of the LORD’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon”; for they prophesy a lie to you.
17‘Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city be laid waste?
18‘But if they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them now make intercession to 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 at Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon.’
19“For thus says the LORD of hosts rconcerning the pillars, concerning the Sea, concerning the carts, and concerning the remainder of the vessels that remain in this city,
20“which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away scaptive 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 tvessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem:
22‘They shall be ucarried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I vvisit them,’ says the LORD. ‘Then wI will bring them up and restore them to this place.’ ”
Jeremiah 28
Hananiah’s Falsehood and Doom
1And ait happened in the same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the bfourth year and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of cAzur the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
2“Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘I have broken dthe yoke of the king of Babylon.
3e‘Within two full years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ftook away from this place and carried to Babylon.
4‘And I will bring back to this place 1Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah who went to Babylon,’ says the LORD, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ ”
5Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of the LORD,
6and the prophet Jeremiah said, g“Amen! The LORD do so; the LORD perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the LORD’s house and all who were carried away captive, from Babylon to this place
.
7“Nevertheless hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people:
8“The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms—of war and disaster and pestilence.
9“As for hthe prophet who prophesies of ipeace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom the LORD has truly sent.”
10Then Hananiah the prophet took the jyoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it.
11And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon kfrom the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.’ ” And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
12Now the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
13“Go and tell Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron.”
14‘For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: l“I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. mI have given him the beasts of the field also.” ’ ”
15Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Hear now, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, but nyou make this people trust in a olie.
16“Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall pdie, because you have taught qrebellion against the LORD.’ ”
17So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
Jeremiah 29
Jeremiah’s Letter to the Captives
1Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were acarried away captive—to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2(This happened after bJeconiah1 the king, the cqueen mother, the 2eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.)
3The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of dShaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,
4Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:
5Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit.
6Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished.
7And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, eand pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace.
8For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst fdeceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.
9For they prophesy gfalsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the LORD.
10For thus says the LORD: After hseventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to ireturn to this place.
11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
12Then you will jcall upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will klisten to you.
13And lyou will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me mwith all your heart.
14nI will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; oI will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
15Because you have said, “The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon”—
16ptherefore thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity—
17thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like qrotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.
18And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I rwill deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth—to be sa curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them,
19because they have not heeded My words, says the LORD, which tI sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; neither would you heed, says the LORD.
20Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.
21Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a ulie to you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes.
22vAnd because of them a curse shall be taken up by all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, wwhom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire”;
23because xthey have done disgraceful things in Israel, have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them. Indeed I yknow, and am a witness, says the LORD.
24You shall also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
25Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, zto 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, so that there should be aofficers in the house of the LORD over every man who is bdemented and considers himself a prophet, that you should cput him in prison and in the stocks.
27Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who makes himself a prophet to you?
28For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘This captivity is long; build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’ ”
29Now Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.
30Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying:
31Send to all those in captivity, saying, Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, dand I have not sent him, and he has caused you to trust in a elie—
32therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his 3family: he shall not have anyone to dwell among this people, nor shall he see the good that I will do for My people, says the LORD, fbecause he has taught rebellion against the LORD.
Jeremiah 30
Restoration of Israel and Judah
1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2“Thus speaks the LORD God of Israel, saying: ‘Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you.
3‘For behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that aI will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the LORD. b‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’ ”
4Now these are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah.
5“For thus says the LORD:
‘We have heard a voice of trembling,
Of 1fear, and not of peace.
6Ask now, and see,
Whether a 2man is ever in 3labor with child?
So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins
c Like a woman in labor,
An
d all faces turned pale?
7d Alas! For that day is great,
e So that none is like it;
And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble,
But he shall be saved out of it.
8‘For it shall come to pass in that day,’
Says the LORD of hosts,
‘ That I will break his yoke from your neck,
And will burst your bonds;
Foreigners shall no more enslave them.
9But they shall serve the LORD their God,
And fDavid their king,
Whom I will graise up for them.
10‘Therefore hdo not fear, O My servant Jacob,’ says the LORD,
‘Nor be dismayed, O Israel;
For behold, I will save you from afar,
And your seed ifrom the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet,
And no one shall make him afraid.
11For I am with jyou,’ says the LORD, ‘to save you;
k Though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you,
l Yet I will not make a complete end of you.
But I will correct you min justice,
And will not let you go altogether unpunished.’
12“For thus says the LORD:
n‘Your affliction is incurable,
Your wound is severe.
13There is no one to plead your cause,
That you may be bound up;
o You have no healing medicines.
14p All your lovers have forgotten you;
They do not seek you;
For I have wounded you with the wound qof an enemy,
With the chastisement rof a cruel one,
For the multitude of your iniquities,
s Because your sins have increased.
15Why tdo you cry about your affliction?
Your sorrow is incurable.
Because of the multitude of your iniquities,
Because your sins have increased,
I have done these things to you.
16‘Therefore all those who devour you ushall be devoured;
And all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into vcaptivity;
The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV Page 358
