1 In the beginning
of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came
this word from the LORD, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD's house,
and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship
in the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to speak
unto them; diminish not a word:
3 If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil
way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do
unto them because of the evil of their doings.
4 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will
not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before
you,
5 To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom
I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but
ye have not hearkened;
6 Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this
city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
7 So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah
speaking these words in the house of the LORD.
8 Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking
all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people,
that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him,
saying, Thou shalt surely die.
9 Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying,
This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate
without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against
Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
10 When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came
up from the king's house unto the house of the LORD, and sat
down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house.
11 Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes
and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for
he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with
your ears.
12 Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people,
saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and
against this city all the words that ye have heard.
13 Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the
voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of
the evil that he hath pronounced against you.
14 As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth
good and meet unto you.
15 But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall
surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city,
and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath
sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.
16 Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests
and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath
spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.
17 Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake
to all the assembly of the people, saying,
18 Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king
of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus
saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field,
and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountains of the house
as the high places of a forest.
19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to
death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and
the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against
them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.
20 And there was also a man that 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:
21 And 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 into Egypt;
22 And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan
the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.
23 And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him
unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast
his dead body into the graves of the common people.
24 Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with
Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the
people to put him to death.
Chapter 27
1 In the beginning
of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came
this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and
put them upon thy neck,
3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab,
and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus,
and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which
come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
4 And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the
LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your
masters;
5 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon
the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and
have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
6 And now have I given all these lands unto the hand of Nebuchadnezzar
the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field
have I given him also to serve him.
7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's
son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations
and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which
will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon,
and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king
of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with
the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until
I have consumed them by his hand.
9 Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners,
nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers,
which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of
Babylon:
10 For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from
your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
11 But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the
king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still
in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and
dwell therein.
12 I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these
words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of
Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.
13 Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the
famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against
the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
14 Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that
speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
for they prophesy a lie unto you.
15 For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy
a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might
perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.
16 Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying,
Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets
that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD's
house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they
prophesy a lie unto you.
17 Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live:
wherefore should this city be laid waste?
18 But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with
them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that
the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and in
the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to
Babylon.
19 For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars,
and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning
the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,
20 Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried
away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from
Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;
21 Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning
the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the
house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem;
22 They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be
until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I
bring them up, and restore them to this place.
Chapter 28
1 And it came to
pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah
king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that
Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake
unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests
and of all the people, saying,
2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying,
I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
3 Within two full years will I bring again into this place all
the vessels of the LORD's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon:
4 And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim
king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into
Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king
of Babylon.
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in
the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the
people that stood in the house of the LORD,
6 Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the LORD do so: the
LORD perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring
again the vessels of the LORD's house, and all that is carried
away captive, from Babylon into this place.
7 Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine
ears, and in the ears of all the people;
8 The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old
prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms,
of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
9 The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the
prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known,
that the LORD hath truly sent him.
10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet
Jeremiah's neck, and brake it.
11 And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying,
Thus saith the LORD; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space
of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
12 Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the prophet,
after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off
the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
13 Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast
broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes
of iron.
14 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I have
put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that
they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall
serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also.
15 Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet,
Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest
this people to trust in a lie.
16 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from
off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because
thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD.
17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh
month. |