Reference: Jeremiah
American
One of the chief prophets of the Old Testament, prophesied under Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah, and also after the captivity of the latter. He was born at Anathoth, of the race of the priests, and was destined of God to be a prophet, and consecrated for that object before his birth, Jer 1:1,5. At an early age he was called to act as a prophet, B. C. 628, in the thirteenth year of King Josiah. This good king no doubt cooperated with him to promote the reformation of the people; but the subsequent life of the prophet was full of afflictions and persecutions. Jehoiakim threw his prophetic roll into the fire, and sought his life. Zedekiah was kindly instructed by him, and warned of the woes impending over his guilty people, and of their seventy years' captivity, but to no purpose. The fidelity of the prophet often endangered his life, and he was in prison when Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar. That monarch released him, and offered him a home in Babylon; but he chose to remain with the remnant of the Jews, and was carried by them before long into Egypt, B. C. 586, still faithfully advising and reproving them till he died. For forty-two years he steadfastly maintained the cause of truth and of God against his rebellious people. Though naturally mild, sensitive, and retiring, he shrank from no danger when duty called; threats could not silence him, nor ill usage alienate him. Tenderly compassionate to his infatuated countrymen, he shared with them the woes, which he could not induce them to avert from their own heads.
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The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests living in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.
I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
Easton
raised up or appointed by Jehovah. (1.) A Gadite who joined David in the wilderness (1Ch 12:10).
(2.) A Gadite warrior (1Ch 12:13).
(3.) A Benjamite slinger who joined David at Ziklag (1Ch 12:4).
(4.) One of the chiefs of the tribe of Manasseh on the east of Jordan (1Ch 5:24).
(5.) The father of Hamutal (2Ki 23:31), the wife of Josiah.
(6.) One of the "greater prophets" of the Old Testament, son of Hilkiah (q.v.), a priest of Anathoth (Jer 1:1; 32:6). He was called to the prophetical office when still young (Jer 1:6), in the thirteenth year of Josiah (B.C. 628). He left his native place, and went to reside in Jerusalem, where he greatly assisted Josiah in his work of reformation (2Ki 23:1-25). The death of this pious king was bewailed by the prophet as a national calamity (2Ch 35:25).
During the three years of the reign of Jehoahaz we find no reference to Jeremiah, but in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the enmity of the people against him broke out in bitter persecution, and he was placed apparently under restraint (Jer 36:5). In the fourth year of Jehoiakim he was commanded to write the predictions given to him, and to read them to the people on the fast-day. This was done by Baruch his servant in his stead, and produced much public excitement. The roll was read to the king. In his recklessness he seized the roll, and cut it to pieces, and cast it into the fire, and ordered both Baruch and Jeremiah to be apprehended. Jeremiah procured another roll, and wrote in it the words of the roll the king had destroyed, and "many like words" besides (Jer 36:32).
He remained in Jerusalem, uttering from time to time his words of warning, but without effect. He was there when Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city (Jer 37:4-5), B.C. 589. The rumour of the approach of the Egyptians to aid the Jews in this crisis induced the Chaldeans to withdraw and return to their own land. This, however, was only for a time. The prophet, in answer to his prayer, received a message from God announcing that the Chaldeans would come again and take the city, and burn it with fire (Jer 37:7-8). The princes, in their anger at such a message by Jeremiah, cast him into prison (Jer 37:15-38:13). He was still in confinement when the city was taken (B.C. 588). The Chaldeans released him, and showed him great kindness, allowing him to choose the place of his residence. He accordingly went to Mizpah with Gedaliah, who had been made governor of Judea. Johanan succeeded Gedaliah, and refusing to listen to Jeremiah's counsels, went down into Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch with him (Jer 43:6). There probably the prophet spent the remainder of his life, in vain seeking still to turn the people to the Lord, from whom they had so long revolted (44). He lived till the reign of Evil-Merodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar, and must have been about ninety years of age at his death. We have no authentic record of his death. He may have died at Tahpanhes, or, according to a tradition, may have gone to Babylon with the army of Nebuchadnezzar; but of this there is nothing certain.
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So the king sent [messengers], and they gathered to him all the elders of Jerusalem and Judah. Then the king went to the Lord's temple with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets-all the people from the youngest to the oldest. As they listened, he read all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the Lord's temple. read more. Next, the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant in the presence of the Lord to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments, His decrees, and His statutes with all his mind and with all his heart, and to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book; all the people agreed to the covenant. Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the doorkeepers to bring out of the Lord's temple all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and the whole heavenly host. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel Then he did away with the idolatrous priests the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense at the high places in the cities of Judah and in the areas surrounding Jerusalem. They had burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, moon, constellations, and the whole heavenly host. He brought out the Asherah pole from the Lord's temple to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it at the Kidron Valley, beat it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. He also tore down the houses of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the Lord's temple, in which the women were weaving tapestries for Asherah. Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defiled the high places from Geba to Beer-sheba, where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city (on the left at the city gate). The priests of the high places, however, did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem; instead, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests. He defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of Hinnom, so that no one could make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech. He did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. [They had been] at the entrance of the Lord's temple in the precincts by the chamber of Nathan-melech the court official, and he burned up the chariots of the sun. The king tore down the altars that were on the roof-Ahaz's upper chamber that the kings of Judah had made-and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the Lord's temple. Then he smashed them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley. The king also defiled the high places that were across from Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Destruction, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the detestable idol of the Sidonians; for Chemosh, the detestable idol of Moab; and for Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. He broke the sacred pillars into pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, then filled their places with human bones. He even tore down the altar at Bethel and the high place that Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, had made. Then he burned the high place, crushed it to dust, and burned the Asherah. As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mountain. He sent [someone] to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar. He defiled it according to the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who proclaimed these things. Then he said, "What is this monument I see?" The men of the city told him, "It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done to the altar at Bethel." So he said, "Let him rest. Don't let anyone disturb his bones." So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. Josiah also removed all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke [the Lord]. Josiah did the same things to them that he had done at Bethel He slaughtered on the altars all the priests of the high places who were there, and he burned human bones on the altars. Then he returned to Jerusalem. The king commanded all the people, "Keep the Passover of the Lord your God as written in the book of the covenant." No such Passover had ever been kept from the time of the judges who judged Israel through the entire time of the kings of Israel and Judah. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the Lord in Jerusalem. In addition, Josiah removed the mediums, the spiritists, household idols, images, and all the detestable things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this in order to carry out the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the Lord's temple. Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his mind and with all his heart and with all his strength according to all the law of Moses, and no one like him arose after him.
Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king; he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; [she was] from Libnah.
These were the heads of their ancestral houses: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were brave warriors, famous men, and heads of their patriarchal families.
Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a warrior among the Thirty and [a leader] over the Thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite;
Jeremiah chanted a dirge over Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women still speak of Josiah in their dirges to this very day. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Dirges.
The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests living in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.
But I protested, "Oh no, Lord God ! Look, I don't know how to speak since I am [only] a youth."
Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, "I am restricted; I cannot enter the temple of the Lord,
Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at Jeremiah's dictation all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim, Judah's king, had burned in the fire. And many other words like them were added.
Jeremiah was going about his daily tasks among the people, for they had not [yet] put him into the prison. Pharaoh's army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: This is what you will say to Judah's king, who is sending you to inquire of Me: Watch: Pharaoh's army, which has come out to help you, is going to return to its own land of Egypt. The Chaldeans will then return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down.
The officials were angry at Jeremiah and beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison. So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and stayed there many days. read more. King Zedekiah later sent [for him] and received him, and in his house privately asked him, "Is there a word from the Lord?" "There is," Jeremiah responded, and he continued, "You will be handed over to the king of Babylon." Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, "How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people that you have put me in prison? Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, 'The king of Babylon will not come against you and this land'? So now please listen, my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Don't send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there." So King Zedekiah gave orders, and Jeremiah was placed in the guard's courtyard. He was given a loaf of bread each day from the baker's street until all the bread was gone from the city. So Jeremiah remained in the guard's courtyard.
the men, women, children, king's daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, along with Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah-
Fausets
("exalted of Jehovah") (Jerome); ("appointed of Jehovah") (Gesenius); ("Jehovah throws") (Hengstenberg); compare Jer 1:10.
1. Son of Hilkiah, a priest in Anathoth of Benjamin; not the high priest Hilkiah who discovered the book of the law in Josiah's reign (2Ki 22:8), for Jeremiah's father is not designated as "the priest" or "the high priest." Moreover, the Anathoth priests were of the line of Abiathar, who was deposed by Solomon (1Ki 2:26-35). Thenceforward the high priesthood was in Eleazar's and Zadok's line. The independent history (2Ch 35:25; 36:12,21) mentions his "lamentation for Josiah," Zedekiah's "not humbling himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of Jehovah," and the Babylonian captivity "to fulfill Jehovah's word by the mouth of Jeremiah until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths, for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath to fulfill threescore and ten years" (Jer 27:7; 25:9-12; 26:6-7; 29:10).
In 629 B.C., the 13th of Josiah's reign, while a mere youth at Anathoth, three miles from Jerusalem (Jer 1:2), "the word of Jehovah came to him" just as manhood was opening out to him, calling him to lay aside his natural sensitiveness and timid self distrust, and as Jehovah's minister, by the might of Jehovah's efficacious word, to "root out ... throw down, build and plant." "Before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." To his pleas of childlike inability to speak (as Moses, Ex 3:11-12; 4:10-12; and Isaiah, Isa 6:5-8), Jehovah opposes His mission and His command: "thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak." To his fear of men's faces Jehovah declares "I am with thee to deliver thee." Touching Jeremiah's mouth (as Isaiah's; compare Jesus' touch, Mt 9:21-29), Jehovah put His words in the prophet's mouth, so that the prophetic word became divinely efficient to produce its own fulfillment; even as the Word was the efficient cause of creation.
Jeremiah must have at first exercised his office in contemplation rather than action, for he is not mentioned in connection with Josiah's reforms, or the great Passover held in the 18th year of his reign, five years subsequent to Jeremiah's call. It is from the prophetess Huldah, not from him, that the godly king sought counsel. Yet he must have warmly sympathized with this great revival. Indications of affinity or friendship with some of the actors in it occur in the sameness of names: Jeremiah's father bearing the name of Hilkiah, Josiah's high priest; his uncle that of Shallum, Huldah's husband (Jer 32:7; compare 2Ki 22:14); Ahikam, Jeremiah's protector (Jer 26:24), was also the fellow worker with Huldah in the revival; moreover Maaseiah, governor of Jerusalem, sent by Josiah as ally of Hilkiah in repairing the temple (2Ch 34:8), was father of Neriah, the father of both Baruch and Seraiah, Jeremiah's disciples (Jer 36:4; 51:59).
The finding of the book of the law, the original temple copy (See HILKIAH) exercised a palpable effect on his later writings. (Compare Jer 11:3-5 with De 7:12; 4:20; 27:26; Jer 34:14 with De 15:12; 32:18 with Ex 20:6; 32:21 with Ex 6:6). He saw that the reformation was but a surface one, and would not ensure the permanent peace which many anticipated from it (Jer 7:4), for while "the temple" was restored the spirit of apostasy still prevailed, so that even Israel seemed just in comparison with what Judah had become (Jer 3:11), a seeker of the truth was scarcely to be found, and self seeking was the real aim, while "the prophets prophesy falsely, the priests hear rule by their means, and God's people (!) love to have it so" (Jer 5:1,31).
Five years after his call to prophesy the book of the law was found in the temple by Hilkiah (2Ki 22:8; 23:25); then Jeremiah in Jehovah's name proclaimed, "Hear ye this covenant, and speak (it in your turn to others, namely,) unto the men of Judah and Jerusalem." Next Jehovah commanded Jeremiah to take a prophetic tour, proclaiming the covenant through the cities of Judah, as well as in Jerusalem (Jer 11:1-2,6). Apparently, he lived at first in Anathoth, repairing thence from time to time to prophesy in Jerusalem (Jer 2:2), until the enmity of his townsmen and even his brethren, because of his godly faithfulness (Jer 11:18-21; 12:6), drove him to Jerusalem. He knew not of their plotting against his life until Jehovah revealed it. His personal experiences were providentially ordered to qualify him to be the type in his own person, as well as the prophet, of Messiah (compare Isa 53:7).
So His brethren, and the Nazarenes His townsmen, treated Christ (Lu 4:24-29; Joh 1:11; 7:5; Ps 69:8). By Jehovah's direction Jeremiah was to have neither wife or children (Jer 16:2), in order to symbolize the coming of calamities on Judea so severe that the single state (contrary to the natural order) would be preferable to the married (1Co 7:8,26,29; Mt 24:19; Lu 23:29). Eighteen years after his first call king Josiah died. During this period, when others thought evil distant, the vision of the almond tree, the emblem of wakefulness, showed Jeremiah that evil was hastening, and the seething pot that it should come from the N., namely, the Babylonians entering into the Holy Land from the N. by way of Hamath (Jer 1:11-15). (See ALMOND.)
Jeremiah, like Isaiah (Isa 30:1-7), foresaw that the tendency of many to desire an alliance with Egypt, upon the dissolution of the Assyrian empire whose vassal Manasseh was, would end in sorrow (Jer 2:18): "what hast thou to do in the way of (with going down to) Egypt? to drink the waters of Sihor (to seek hosts as allies from the Nile land)?" Josiah so far molded his policy according to Jeremiah's counsel; but he forgot that it was equally against God's will for His people to lean upon Assyrian or Babylonian "confidences" as upon Egyptian (Jeremiah 36 - 37); so taking the field as ally of Assyria and Babylon against the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho he fell (2Ki 23:29). Josiah's death was one of his bitterest sorrows (Jer 22:10,15-16), the remembrance of his righteous reign intensified the pain of witnessing the present injustice of his successors.
Jeremiah composed the funeral dirge which "the singing men and women in their lamentations" used at the anniversary kept subsequently as an ordinance in Israel (2Ch 35:20-25). Jeremiah had also inward conflicts. Like Asaph (Psalm 73) he felt perplexed at the prosperity of the wicked (Jer 12:1-4) plotters at Anathoth against his life (Jer 11:19-21), to which Jehovah replies that even worse is before him at Jerusalem: "if thou hast run with the footmen (the Anathoth men), and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses (the men of Jerusalem)? And if (it is only) in a land of peace thou trustest (so the Hebrew is), then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?" Or else, if in the plain country alone thou art secure, how wilt thou do "in the pride (the wooded banks, the lair of beasts: Zec 11:3; 2Ki 6:2 compare Pr 24:10) of Jordan?"
Jeremiah sensitively shrank from strifes, yet the Holy Spirit enabled him to deliver his message at the certain cost of rousing enmity and having his sensitiveness wounded (Jer 15:10). His nature said, "I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name; but (the Spirit made him feel) His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing" (Jer 20:9). In Jer 22:11-12 Jeremiah foretold that Josiah's son, Shallum or Jehoahaz who reigned but three months and was carried to Egypt by Pharaoh Necho, should never return. (See JEHOAHAZ.) On Jehoiakim's accession idolatry returned, combined with the worship of Jehovah; and priests, prophets, and people soon brought Jeremiah before the authorities, urging that he should be put to death for denouncing evil against the temple and the city (Jer 26:7-11).
This he had done in Jer 7:12-14,8-9. and more summarily in 6/1/type/hcsb'>Jer 26:1-2,6, at the feast of tabernacles, when the law was commanded to be read, or at either of the other two great feasts, before the people of "all the cities of Judah," assembled for worship "in the court of Jehovah's house";
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But Moses asked God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" He answered, "I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain."
But Moses replied to the Lord, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent-either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant-because I am slow and hesitant in speech." The Lord said to him, "Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? read more. Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say."
"Therefore tell the Israelites: I am Yahweh, and I will deliver you from the forced labor of the Egyptians and free you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment.
but showing faithful love to a thousand [generations] of those who love Me and keep My commands.
Then Moses asked Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have led them into [such] a grave sin?"
But the Lord selected you and brought you out of Egypt's iron furnace to be a people for His inheritance, as you are today.
"If you listen to and are careful to keep these ordinances, the Lord your God will keep His covenant loyalty with you, as He swore to your fathers.
"If your fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, you must set him free in the seventh year.
'Cursed is anyone who does not put the words of this law into practice.' And all the people will say, 'Amen!'
You ignored the Rock who gave you birth; you forgot the God who brought you forth.
The king said to Abiathar the priest, "Go to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death today, since you carried the ark of the Lord God in the presence of my father David and you suffered through all that my father suffered." So Solomon banished Abiathar from being the Lord's priest, and it fulfilled the Lord's prophecy He had spoken at Shiloh against Eli's family. read more. The news reached Joab. Since he had supported Adonijah but not Absalom, Joab fled to the Lord's tabernacle and took hold of the horns of the altar. It was reported to King Solomon: "Joab has fled to the Lord's tabernacle and is now beside the altar." Then Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada and told [him], "Go and strike him down!" So Benaiah went to the tabernacle and said to Joab, "This is what the king says: 'Come out!' " But Joab said, "No, for I will die here." So Benaiah took a message back to the king, "This is what Joab said, and this is how he answered me." The king said to him, "Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him in order to remove from me and from my father's house the blood that Joab shed without just cause. The Lord will bring back his own blood on his own head because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, without my father David's knowledge. With his sword, Joab murdered Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army. Their blood will come back on Joab's head and on the head of his descendants forever, but for David, his descendants, his dynasty, and his throne, there will be peace from the Lord forever." Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and put him to death. He was buried at his house in the wilderness. Then the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab's place over the army, and he appointed Zadok the priest in Abiathar's place.
Hilkiah the high priest told Shaphan the court secretary, "I have found the book of the law in the Lord's temple," and he gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.
Hilkiah the high priest told Shaphan the court secretary, "I have found the book of the law in the Lord's temple," and he gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.
Then he commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the court secretary, and the king's servant Asaiah:
So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah, wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second District. They spoke with her.
So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah, wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second District. They spoke with her.
Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his mind and with all his heart and with all his strength according to all the law of Moses, and no one like him arose after him.
During his reign, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt marched up to the king of Assyria at the Euphrates river. King Josiah went to confront him, and at Megiddo when Neco saw him he killed him.
Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king; he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; [she was] from Libnah.
Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king; he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; [she was] from Libnah.
In the eighteenth year of his reign, in order to cleanse the land and the temple, Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, along with Maaseiah the governor of the city and the recorder Joah son of Joahaz, to repair the temple of the Lord his God.
After all this that Josiah had prepared for the temple, Neco king of Egypt marched up to fight at Carchemish by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him. But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, "What is [the issue] between you and me, king of Judah? I have not come against you today but to the dynasty I am fighting. God told me to hurry. Stop opposing God who is with me; don't make Him destroy you!" read more. But Josiah did not turn away from him; instead, in order to fight with him he disguised himself. He did not listen to Neco's words from the mouth of God, but went to the Valley of Megiddo to fight. The archers shot King Josiah, and he said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am severely wounded!" So his servants took him out of the war chariot, carried him in his second chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem. Then he died, and they buried him in the tomb of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Jeremiah chanted a dirge over Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women still speak of Josiah in their dirges to this very day. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Dirges.
Jeremiah chanted a dirge over Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women still speak of Josiah in their dirges to this very day. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Dirges.
He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet at the Lord's command.
This fulfilled the word of the Lord through Jeremiah and the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation until 70 years were fulfilled.
Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, read more. Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests.
These are the priests and Levites who went up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
May the day I was born perish, and the night when they said, "A boy is conceived." If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above not care about it, or light shine on it. read more. May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it. May an eclipse of the sun terrify it. If only darkness had taken that night away! May it not appear among the days of the year or be listed in the calendar. Yes, may that night be barren; may no joyful shout be heard in it. Let those who curse [certain] days cast a spell on it, those who are skilled in rousing Leviathan. May its morning stars grow dark. May it wait for daylight but have none; may it not see the breaking of dawn. For that night did not shut the doors of my [mother's] womb, and hide sorrow from my eyes. Why was I not stillborn; [why] didn't I die as I came from the womb?
Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; You will shatter them like pottery."
They will not be disgraced in times of adversity; they will be satisfied in days of hunger.
I have sunk in deep mud, and there is no footing; I have come into deep waters, and a flood sweeps over me.
I have become a stranger to my brothers and a foreigner to my mother's sons
Rescue me from the miry mud; don't let me sink. Let me be rescued from those who hate me, and from the deep waters.
If you do nothing in a difficult time, your strength is limited.
One who rebukes a person will later find more favor than one who flatters with his tongue.
Then I said: Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, [and] because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. read more. He touched my mouth [with it] and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, and your sin is atoned for. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Who should I send? Who will go for Us? I said: Here I am. Send me.
during that time the Lord had spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, "Go, take off your sackcloth and remove the sandals from your feet," and he did so, going naked and barefoot-
Woe to the rebellious children! [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. They carry out a plan, but not Mine, They make an alliance, but against My will, piling sin on top of sin. They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, in order to seek shelter under Pharaoh's protection and take refuge in Egypt's shadow. read more. But Pharaoh's protection will become your shame, and refuge in Egypt's shadow your disgrace. For though his princes are at Zoan and his messengers reach as far as Hanes, everyone will be ashamed because of a people who can't help. They are of no benefit, they are no help; they are good for nothing but shame and reproach. An oracle about the animals of the Negev: Through a land of trouble and distress, of lioness and lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people who will not help them. Egypt's help is completely worthless; therefore, I call her: Rahab Who Just Sits.
They say to the seers, "Do not see," and to the prophets, "Do not prophesy the truth to us. Tell us flattering things. Prophesy illusions.
he will dwell on the heights; his refuge will be the rocky fortresses, his food provided, his water assured.
"Woe to the one who argues with his Maker- one clay pot among many. Does clay say to the one forming it: What are you making? Or does your work [say]: He has no hands?
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open His mouth.
Yet Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter; we all are the work of Your hands.
The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.
See, today I have set you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and demolish, to build and plant. Then the word of the Lord came to me, asking, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I replied, "I see a branch of an almond tree."
Then the word of the Lord came to me, asking, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I replied, "I see a branch of an almond tree." The Lord said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I watch over My word to accomplish it."
The Lord said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I watch over My word to accomplish it." Again the word of the Lord came to me inquiring, "What do you see?" And I replied, "I see a boiling pot, its mouth tilted from the north [to the south]."
Again the word of the Lord came to me inquiring, "What do you see?" And I replied, "I see a boiling pot, its mouth tilted from the north [to the south]." Then the Lord said to me, "Disaster will be poured out from the north on all who live in the land.
Then the Lord said to me, "Disaster will be poured out from the north on all who live in the land. Indeed, I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north." [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. They will come, and each [king] will set up his throne at the entrance to Jerusalem's gates. They will attack all her surrounding walls and all the other cities of Judah.
Indeed, I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north." [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. They will come, and each [king] will set up his throne at the entrance to Jerusalem's gates. They will attack all her surrounding walls and all the other cities of Judah. "I will pronounce My judgments against them for all the evil they did when they abandoned Me to burn incense to other gods and to worship the works of their own hands. read more. "Now, get ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them or I will cause you to cower before them. Today, I am the One who has made you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land-against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the population. They will fight against you but never prevail over you, since I am with you to rescue you." [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.
"Go and announce directly to Jerusalem that this is what the Lord says: I remember the loyalty of your youth, your love as a bride- how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.
Now what will you gain by traveling along the way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? What will you gain by traveling along the way to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
The Lord announced to me, "Unfaithful Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
When you multiply and increase in the land, in those days"-the Lord's declaration-"no one will say any longer: The ark of the Lord's covenant. It will never come to mind, and no one will remember or miss it. It will never again be made. At that time Jerusalem will be called, The Lord's Throne, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord in Jerusalem. They will cease to follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. read more. In those days the house of Judah will join with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land I have given your ancestors to inherit."
Roam through the streets of Jerusalem. Look and take note; search in her squares. If you find a single person, anyone who acts justly, who seeks to be faithful, then I will forgive her.
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it like this. But what will you do at the end of it?
They have treated My people's brokenness superficially, claiming: Peace, peace, when there is no peace.
Do not trust deceitful words, chanting: This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.
[But] look, you keep trusting in deceitful words that cannot help. "Do you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known?
"But return to My place that was at Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at first. See what I did to it because of the evil of My people Israel. Now, because you have done all these things"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"and because I have spoken to you time and time again but you wouldn't listen, and I have called to you, but you wouldn't answer, read more. what I did to Shiloh I will do to the house that is called by My name-the house in which you trust-the place that I gave you and your ancestors.
[This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "Listen to the words of this covenant, and tell them to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem. read more. You must tell them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant, which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace. I declared: 'Obey Me, and do everything that I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God,' in order to establish the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give [them] a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today." I answered, "Amen, Lord." The Lord said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out.
The Lord informed me, so I knew. Then You helped me to see their deeds, for I was like a docile lamb led to slaughter. I didn't know that they had devised plots against me: "Let's destroy the tree with its fruit; let's cut him off from the land of the living so that his name will no longer be remembered."
for I was like a docile lamb led to slaughter. I didn't know that they had devised plots against me: "Let's destroy the tree with its fruit; let's cut him off from the land of the living so that his name will no longer be remembered." But, Lord of Hosts, who judges righteously, who tests heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance on them, for I have presented my case to You.
But, Lord of Hosts, who judges righteously, who tests heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance on them, for I have presented my case to You. Therefore, here is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth who want to take your life. They warn, "You must not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will certainly die at our hand."
Therefore, here is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth who want to take your life. They warn, "You must not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will certainly die at our hand."
You will be righteous, Lord, even if I bring a case against You. Yet, I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? [Why] do the treacherous live at ease? You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their conscience. read more. As for You, You know me, Lord; You see me. You test whether my heart is with You. Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter, and set them apart for the day of killing. How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? Because of the evil of its residents, animals and birds have been swept away, for [the people] have said, "He cannot see what our end will be."
Even your brothers-your own father's household- even they were treacherous to you; even they have cried out loudly after you. Do not have confidence in them, though they speak well of you.
This is what the Lord said to me: "Go and buy yourself linen underwear and put it on, but don't get it wet." So I bought underwear as the Lord instructed me and put it on. read more. Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time: "Take the underwear that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to the Euphrates River and hide it in a rocky crevice." So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. A long time later the Lord said to me, "Go at once to the Euphrates and get the underwear that I commanded you to hide there." So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where I had hidden it, but it was ruined-of no use whatsoever.
Say to the king and the queen mother: Take a humble seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.
Woe is me, my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man who incites dispute and conflict in all the land. I did not lend or borrow, yet everyone curses me.
"You must not marry or have sons or daughters in this place.
This is what the Lord says: "Go, buy a potter's clay jug. Take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests
"Then you are to shatter the jug in the presence of the people traveling with you,
So Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks at the Upper Benjamin Gate in the Lord's temple.
If I say: I won't mention Him or speak any longer in His name, His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.
[This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah, asking, "Ask the Lord on our behalf, since Nebuchadnezzarking of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will perform for us something like all His [past] wonderful works so that [Nebuchadnezzar] will withdraw from us." read more. But Jeremiah answered, "This is what you are to say to Zedekiah: 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will repel the weapons of war in your hands, those you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall, and I will bring them into the center of this city. I will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, with anger, rage, and great wrath. I will strike the residents of this city, both man and beast. They will die in a great plague. Afterwards'"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"'King Zedekiah of Judah, his officers, and the people-those in this city who survive the plague, the sword, and the famine-I will hand over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, to their enemies, yes, to those who want to take their lives. He will put them to the sword; he won't spare them or show pity or compassion.' "But you must say to this people, 'This is what the Lord says: Look, I am presenting to you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and will retain his life like the spoils [of war].
Do not weep for the dead; do not mourn for him. Weep bitterly for the one who has gone away, for he will never return again and see his native land. For this is what the Lord says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who succeeded Josiah his father as king: "He has left this place-he will never return here again, read more. but he will die in the place where they deported him, never seeing this land again."
Are you a king because you excel in cedar? Your own father, did he not eat and drink? He administered justice and righteousness, then it went well with him. He took up the case of the poor and needy, then it went well. Is this not what it means to know Me? [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.
"As I live," says the Lord, "though you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would tear you from it. In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread, who want to take your life, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans. read more. I will hurl you and the mother who gave birth to you into another land, where neither of you were born, and there you will both die. They will never return to the land they long to return to." Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered pot, a jar no one wants? Why are he and his descendants hurled out and cast into a land they have not known? Earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says: Record this man as childless, a man who will not be successful in his lifetime. None of his descendants will succeed in sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah.
"The days are coming"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"when I will raise up a righteous Branch of David. He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is what He will be named: The Lord Is Our Righteousness.
[This is] the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon).
"Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: 'Because you have not obeyed My words, I am going to send for all the families of the north'-[this is] the Lord's declaration-'and [send for] My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land, against its residents, and against all these surrounding nations, and I will completely destroy them and make them a desolation, a derision, and ruins forever.
I am going to send for all the families of the north'-[this is] the Lord's declaration-'and [send for] My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land, against its residents, and against all these surrounding nations, and I will completely destroy them and make them a desolation, a derision, and ruins forever. I will eliminate the sound of joy and gladness from them-the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.
I will eliminate the sound of joy and gladness from them-the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years.
This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. When the 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation'-[this is] the Lord's declaration-'the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, and I will make it a ruin forever.
When the 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation'-[this is] the Lord's declaration-'the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, and I will make it a ruin forever. I will bring on that land all My words I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book that Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations.
I will bring on that land all My words I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book that Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations.
I will bring on that land all My words I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book that Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.' "
For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.' " This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: "Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and make all the nations I am sending you to drink from it. read more. They will drink, stagger, and go out of their minds because of the sword I am sending among them." So I took the cup from the Lord's hand and made all the nations drink [from it], everyone the Lord sent me to. [These included:] Jerusalem and the [other] cities of Judah, its kings and its officials, to make them a desolate ruin, an object of scorn and cursing-as it is today; Pharaoh king of Egypt, his officers, his leaders, all his people, and all the mixed peoples; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines-Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites; all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands across the sea; Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all those who shave their temples; all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed peoples who have settled in the desert; all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; all the kings of the north, both near and far from one another; that is, all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth. Finally, the king of Sheshach will drink after them.
all the kings of the north, both near and far from one another; that is, all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth. Finally, the king of Sheshach will drink after them. "Then you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, as a result of the sword I am sending among you. read more. If they refuse to take the cup from you and drink, you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: You must drink! For I am already bringing disaster on the city that bears My name, so how could you possibly go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth"-[this is] the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. "As for you, you are to prophesy all these things to them, and say to them: The Lord roars from on high; He raises His voice from His holy dwelling. He roars loudly over His grazing land; He calls out with a shout, like those who tread [grapes], against all the inhabitants of the earth.
"As for you, you are to prophesy all these things to them, and say to them: The Lord roars from on high; He raises His voice from His holy dwelling. He roars loudly over His grazing land; He calls out with a shout, like those who tread [grapes], against all the inhabitants of the earth. The tumult reaches to the ends of the earth because the Lord brings a case against the nations. He enters into judgment with all flesh. As for the wicked, He hands them over to the sword- [This is] the Lord's declaration. read more. "This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Pay attention! Disaster goes forth from nation to nation. A great storm is stirred up from the ends of the earth." Those slain by the Lord on that day will be [spread] from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, gathered, or buried. They will be like manure on the surface of the ground. Wail, you shepherds, and cry out. Roll [in the dust],you leaders of the flock. Because the days of your slaughter have come, you will fall and become shattered like a precious vase. Flight will be impossible for the shepherds, and escape, for the leaders of the flock. [Hear] the sound of the shepherds' cry, the wail of the leaders of the flock, for the Lord is destroying their pasture. Peaceful grazing land will become lifeless because of the Lord's burning anger. He has left His den like a lion, for their land has become a desolation because of the sword of the oppressor, because of His burning anger.
At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: "This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord's temple and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all Judah's cities that are coming to worship there. Do not hold back a word.
I will make this temple like Shiloh. I will make this city an object of cursing for all the nations of the earth."
I will make this temple like Shiloh. I will make this city an object of cursing for all the nations of the earth." The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the temple of the Lord.
The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the temple of the Lord. He finished the address the Lord had commanded him to deliver to all the people. Then the priests, the prophets, and all the people took hold of him, yelling, "You must surely die! read more. How dare you prophesy in the name of the Lord, 'This temple will become like Shiloh and this city will become an uninhabited ruin'!" Then all the people assembled against Jeremiah at the Lord's temple. When the officials of Judah heard these things, they went up from the king's palace to the Lord's temple and sat at the entrance of the New Gate. Then the priests and prophets said to the officials and all the people, "This man deserves the death sentence because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears."
Then the officials and all the people told the priests and prophets, "This man doesn't deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God!"
But Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.
At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "This is what the Lord said to me: Make fetters and yoke bars for yourself and put them on your neck. read more. Send [word] to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon through messengers who are coming to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem.
Send [word] to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon through messengers who are coming to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem.
So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. I have even given him the wild animals to serve him. All nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until the time for his own land comes, and then many nations and great kings will enslave him.
All nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until the time for his own land comes, and then many nations and great kings will enslave him. "As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish by sword, famine, and plague"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"until through him I have destroyed it. read more. But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers who say to you: Don't serve the king of Babylon!
I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah in the same way: "Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, serve him and his people, and live!
For this is what the Lord says: "When 70 years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm My promise concerning you to restore you to this place.
How long will you turn here and there, faithless daughter? For the Lord creates something new in the land- a female will shelter a man.
At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.
"Look, the days are coming"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. [This one will] not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt-a covenant they broke even though I had married them"-the Lord's declaration. read more. "Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days"-the Lord's declaration. "I will place My law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying: Know the Lord, for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them"-the Lord's declaration. "For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin."
At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the guard's courtyard in the palace of the king of Judah.
At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the guard's courtyard in the palace of the king of Judah. Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying: "Why are you prophesying, 'This is what the Lord says: Look, I am about to hand this city over to Babylon's king, and he will capture it. read more. Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the Chaldeans; indeed, he will certainly be handed over to Babylon's king. They will speak face to face and meet eye to eye. He will take Zedekiah to Babylon where he will stay until I attend to him'-[this is] the Lord's declaration. 'You will fight the Chaldeans, but you will not succeed'?"
'Watch! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say: Buy my field in Anathoth for yourself, for you own the right of redemption to buy it.'
and gave the purchase agreement to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah. [I did this] in the sight of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who were signing the purchase agreement, and all the Judeans sitting in the guard's courtyard.
Yet I will certainly bring health and healing to it and will indeed heal them. I will let them experience the abundance of peace and truth. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and of Israel and will rebuild them as in former times. read more. I will purify them from all the wrongs they have committed against Me, and I will forgive all the wrongs they have committed against Me, rebelling against Me. This city will bear on My behalf a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I will do for them. They will tremble with awe because of all the good and all the peace I will bring about for them. "This is what the Lord says: In this place which you say is a ruin, without man or beast-that is, in Judah's cities and Jerusalem's streets that are a desolation without man, without inhabitant, and without beast-there will be heard again a sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, and the voice of those saying, Praise the Lord of Hosts, for the Lord is good; His faithful love endures forever as they bring thank offerings to the temple of the Lord. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as in former times, says the Lord. "This is what the Lord of Hosts says: In this desolate place-without man or beast-and in all its cities there will once more be a grazing land where shepherds may rest flocks. The flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them in the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Judean foothills, the cities of the Negev, the land of Benjamin-the cities surrounding Jerusalem and Judah's cities, says the Lord. "Look, the days are coming"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"when I will fulfill the good promises that I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a Branch of righteousness to sprout up for David, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is what she will be named: The Lord Is Our Righteousness. For this is what the Lord says: David will never fail to have a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel. The Levitical priests will never fail to have a man always before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices." The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "This is what the Lord says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time, then also My covenant with My servant David may be broken so that he will not have a son reigning on his throne, and the Levitical priests will not be My ministers. The hosts of heaven cannot be counted; the sand of the sea cannot be measured. So, too, I will make the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister to Me innumerable." The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "Have you not noticed what these people have said? They say: The Lord has rejected the two families He had chosen. My people are treated with contempt and no longer regarded as a nation among them. This is what the Lord says: If I do not [keep] My covenant with the day and with the night and fail to establish the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I might also reject the seed of Jacob and of My servant David-not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them."
[This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, all his army, all the earthly kingdoms under his control, and all other nations were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding cities: "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go, speak to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and tell him: This is what the Lord says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. read more. As for you, you will not escape from his hand but are certain to be captured and handed over to him. You will meet the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak face to face;you will go to Babylon. "Yet hear the Lord's word, Zedekiah, king of Judah. This is what the Lord says concerning you: You will not die by the sword; you will die peacefully. There will be a burning ceremony for you just like the burning ceremonies for your fathers, the former kings who preceded you. Alas, lord! will be the lament for you, for I have spoken [this] word." [This is] the Lord's declaration. So Jeremiah the prophet related all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem while the king of Babylon's army was attacking Jerusalem and all of Judah's remaining cities-against Lachish and Azekah, for only they were left among Judah's fortified cities. [This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom to them, so each man would free his male and female Hebrew slaves and no one enslave his Judean brother. All the officials and people who entered into covenant to free their male and female slaves-in order not to enslave them any longer-obeyed and freed them. Afterwards, however, they changed their minds and took back their male and female slaves they had freed and forced them to become slaves [again]. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, saying: At the end of seven years, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must send him out free from you. But your ancestors did not obey Me or pay any attention.
At the end of seven years, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must send him out free from you. But your ancestors did not obey Me or pay any attention. Today you repented and did what pleased Me, each of you proclaiming freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before Me at the temple called by My name. read more. But you have changed your minds and profaned My name. Each has taken back his male and female slaves who had been freed [to go] wherever they wanted, and you have [again] subjugated them to be your slaves. "Therefore, this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed Me by proclaiming freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. I hereby proclaim freedom for you"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"to the sword, to plague, and to famine! I will make you a horror to all the earth's kingdoms. As for those who disobeyed My covenant, not keeping the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat them like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces. The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf will be handed over to their enemies, to those who want to take their life. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land. I will hand Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials over to their enemies, to those who want to take their life, to the king of Babylon's army that is withdrawing. I am about to give the command"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it down. I will make Judah's cities a desolation, without inhabitant."
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "Take a scroll, and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations from the time I [first] spoke to you during Josiah's reign until today.
So Jeremiah summoned Baruch son of Neriah. At Jeremiah's dictation, Baruch wrote on a scroll all the words the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah.
After the king had burned the scroll with the words Baruch had written at Jeremiah's dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "Take another scroll, and once again write on it the very words that were on the original scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned. read more. You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: This is what the Lord says: You have burned the scroll, saying: Why have you written on it: The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and cause it to be without man or beast? Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David's throne, and his corpse will be thrown out [to be exposed] to the heat of day and the frost of night. I will punish him, his descendants, and his officers for their wrongdoing. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the disaster, which I warned them about but they did not listen." Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at Jeremiah's dictation all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim, Judah's king, had burned in the fire. And many other words like them were added.
Zedekiah son of Josiah reigned as king in the land of Judah in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made him king. He and his officers and the people of the land did not obey the words of the Lord that He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. read more. Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, requesting, "Please pray to the Lord our God for us!" Jeremiah was going about his daily tasks among the people, for they had not [yet] put him into the prison. Pharaoh's army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
Jeremiah [started to] leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people. But when he was at the Benjamin Gate, an officer of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, and he apprehended Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "You are deserting to the Chaldeans." read more. "[That's] a lie," Jeremiah replied. "I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!" Irijah would not listen to him but apprehended Jeremiah and took him to the officials. The officials were angry at Jeremiah and beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison. So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and stayed there many days. King Zedekiah later sent [for him] and received him, and in his house privately asked him, "Is there a word from the Lord?" "There is," Jeremiah responded, and he continued, "You will be handed over to the king of Babylon." Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, "How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people that you have put me in prison? Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, 'The king of Babylon will not come against you and this land'? So now please listen, my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Don't send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there."
So now please listen, my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Don't send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there." So King Zedekiah gave orders, and Jeremiah was placed in the guard's courtyard. He was given a loaf of bread each day from the baker's street until all the bread was gone from the city. So Jeremiah remained in the guard's courtyard.
"This is what the Lord says: 'Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live. He will keep his life like the spoils [of war] and will live.'
In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to it.
[Speaking] through Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gave orders concerning Jeremiah, saying:
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes: "Pick up some large stones and set them in the mortar of the brick pavement that is at the opening of Pharaoh's palace at Tahpanhes. [Do this] in the sight of the Judean men read more. and tell them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will place his throne on these stones that I have embedded, and he will pitch his pavilion over them. He will come and strike down the land of Egypt-those [destined] for death, to death; those [destined] for captivity, to captivity; and those [destined] for the sword, to the sword. I will kindle a fire in the temples of Egypt's gods, and he will burn them and take them prisoner. He will clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd picks lice off his garment, and he will leave there unscathed. He will smash the sacred pillars of the sun temple in the land of Egypt and burn down the temples of the Egyptian gods."
About Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco, Egypt's king, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Judah's King Jehoiakim son of Josiah:
[This is] the word the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to defeat the land of Egypt: Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol! Proclaim it in Memphis and in Tahpanhes! Say: Take positions! Prepare yourself, for the sword devours all around you. read more. Why have your strong ones been swept away? Each has not stood, for the Lord has thrust him down. He continues to stumble. Indeed, each falls over the other. They say: Get up! Let's return to our people and to the land of our birth, away from the sword that oppresses. There they will cry out: Pharaoh king of Egypt was all noise; he let the opportune moment pass. As I live- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the King's declaration; the Lord of Hosts is His name. He will come like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea. Pack your bags for exile, inhabitant of Daughter Egypt! For Memphis will become a desolation, uninhabited ruins. Egypt is a beautiful young cow, but a horsefly from the north is coming against her. Even her mercenaries among her are like stall-fed calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee; they will not take their stand, for the day of their calamity is coming on them, the time of their punishment. Egypt will hiss like a slithering snake, for [the enemy] will come with an army; with axes they will come against her like those who cut trees. They will cut down her forest- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration- though it is dense, for they are more numerous than locusts; they cannot be counted. Daughter Egypt will be put to shame, handed over to a northern people. The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to punish Amon, [god] of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, Egypt, her gods, and her kings-Pharaoh and those trusting in him. I will hand them over to those who want to take their lives-to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this, it will be inhabited again as in ancient times." [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.
How Sheshach has been captured, the praise of the whole earth seized. What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!
[This is] what Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, the quartermaster, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign.
[This is] what Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, the quartermaster, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign. Jeremiah wrote on one scroll about all the disaster that would come to Babylon; all these words were written against Babylon. read more. Jeremiah told Seraiah, "When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. You must say, 'Lord, You have threatened to cut off this place so that no one will live in it-man or beast. Indeed, it will remain desolate forever.' When you have finished reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River. Then say, 'In the same way, Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the disaster I am bringing on her. They will grow weary.' " The words of Jeremiah end here.
Then say, 'In the same way, Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the disaster I am bringing on her. They will grow weary.' " The words of Jeremiah end here.
Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see! Is there any pain like mine, which was dealt out to me, which the Lord made [me] suffer on the day of His burning anger?
"Since they have led My people astray saying: Peace, when there is no peace, for when someone builds a wall they plaster it with whitewash,
As for you, because of the blood of your covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless cistern.
Listen to the wail of the shepherds, for their glory is destroyed. Listen to the roar of young lions, for the thickets of the Jordan are destroyed.
Then I said to them, "If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep [them]." So they weighed my wages, 30 pieces of silver. "Throw it to the potter," the Lord said to me-this magnificent price I was valued by them. So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw it into the house of the Lord, to the potter.
Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
for she said to herself, "If I can just touch His robe, I'll be made well!" But Jesus turned and saw her. "Have courage, daughter," He said. "Your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that moment. read more. When Jesus came to the leader's house, He saw the flute players and a crowd lamenting loudly. "Leave," He said, "because the girl isn't dead, but sleeping." And they started laughing at Him. But when the crowd had been put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And this news spread throughout that whole area. As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, shouting, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" When He entered the house, the blind men approached Him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I can do this?" "Yes, Lord," they answered Him. Then He touched their eyes, saying, "Let it be done for you according to your faith!"
And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days!
Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: They took the 30 pieces of silver, the price of Him whose price was set by the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me.
He also said, "I assure you: No prophet is accepted in his hometown. But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah's days, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land. read more. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them-but to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. And in the prophet Elisha's time, there were many in Israel who had serious skin diseases, yet not one of them was healed -only Naaman the Syrian." When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They got up, drove Him out of town, and brought Him to the edge of the hill their town was built on, intending to hurl Him over the cliff.
Look, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed!'
He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.
"What then?" they asked him. "Are you Elijah?" "I am not," he said. "Are you the Prophet?" "No," he answered.
This man came to Him at night and said, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one could perform these signs You do unless God were with him."
How can you believe? While accepting glory from one another, you don't seek the glory that comes from the only God.
(For not even His brothers believed in Him.)
For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus-but secretly because of his fear of the Jews-asked Pilate that he might remove Jesus' body. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and took His body away.
But who are you-anyone who talks back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?" Or has the potter no right over His clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor?
Instead, God has chosen the world's foolish things to shame the wise, and God has chosen the world's weak things to shame the strong. God has chosen the world's insignificant and despised things-the things viewed as nothing-so He might bring to nothing the things that are viewed as something, read more. so that no one can boast in His presence.
I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them if they remain as I am.
Therefore I consider this to be good because of the present distress: it is fine for a man to stay as he is.
And I say this, brothers: the time is limited, so from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none,
But finding fault with His people, He says: "Look, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-
But finding fault with His people, He says: "Look, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah- not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day I took them by their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. Because they did not continue in My covenant, I disregarded them," says the Lord.
not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day I took them by their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. Because they did not continue in My covenant, I disregarded them," says the Lord. "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the Lord: "I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.
"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the Lord: "I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. And each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them.
And each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins."
For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins."
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws on their hearts, and I will write them on their minds, [He adds]: I will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts.
They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated.
and He will shepherd them with an iron scepter; He will shatter them like pottery - just as I have received [this] from My Father.
Hastings
1. A warrior of the tribe of Gad, fifth in reputation (1Ch 12:10). 2. The tenth in reputation (1Ch 12:13) of the same Gadite band. 3. A bowman and slinger of the tribe of Benjamin (1Ch 12:4). 4. The head of a family in E.Manasseh (1Ch 5:24). 5. A Jew of Libnah, whose daughter, Hamutal or Hamital, was one of the wives of Josiah, and mother of Jehoahaz (2Ki 23:31) and Zedekiah (2Ki 24:18; Jer 52:1). 6. The son of Habazziniah and father of Jaazaniah, the head of the Rechabites (Jer 35:3) in the time of the prophet Jer 7. A priest who returned with Zerubbabel (Ne 12:1). His name was given to one of the twenty-two courses of priests (Ezr 2:38-39; Ne 7:39-42; 12:13). 8. A priest who sealed the covenant (Ne 10:2) and took part in the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem (Ne 12:34). 9. The prophet. See next article.
JEREMIAH
1. The times.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
The king said to Abiathar the priest, "Go to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death today, since you carried the ark of the Lord God in the presence of my father David and you suffered through all that my father suffered."
Hadad and his men set out from Midian and went to Paran. They took men with them from Paran and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house, ordered that he [be given] food, and gave him land. Pharaoh liked Hadad so much that he gave him a wife, the sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes. read more. Tahpenes' sister gave birth to Hadad's son Genubath. Tahpenes [herself] weaned him in Pharaoh's palace, and Genubath [lived] there along with Pharaoh's sons. When Hadad heard in Egypt that David rested with his fathers and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, "Let me leave, so I can go to my own country." But Pharaoh asked him, "What do you lack here with me for you to want to go back to your own country?" "Nothing," he replied, "but please let me leave." God raised up Rezon son of Eliada as an enemy against Solomon. Rezon had fled from his master Hadadezer king of Zobah
After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. Ahaziah had fallen through the latticed window of his upper room in Samaria and was injured. So he sent messengers instructing them: "Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will recover from this injury."
He did what was right in the Lord's sight and walked in all the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn to the right or the left.
"Go up to Hilkiah the high priest so that he may total up the money brought into the Lord's temple-[the money] the doorkeepers have collected from the people.
Hilkiah the high priest told Shaphan the court secretary, "I have found the book of the law in the Lord's temple," and he gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.
He even tore down the altar at Bethel and the high place that Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, had made. Then he burned the high place, crushed it to dust, and burned the Asherah. As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mountain. He sent [someone] to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar. He defiled it according to the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who proclaimed these things. read more. Then he said, "What is this monument I see?" The men of the city told him, "It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done to the altar at Bethel." So he said, "Let him rest. Don't let anyone disturb his bones." So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. Josiah also removed all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke [the Lord]. Josiah did the same things to them that he had done at Bethel He slaughtered on the altars all the priests of the high places who were there, and he burned human bones on the altars. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his mind and with all his heart and with all his strength according to all the law of Moses, and no one like him arose after him.
Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king; he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; [she was] from Libnah.
During his reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. The Lord sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through His servants the prophets.
Jehoiakim rested with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place. Now the king of Egypt did not march out of his land again, for the king of Babylon took everything that belonged to the king of Egypt, from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River. read more. Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king; he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; [she was] from Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the Lord's sight as his father had done. At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it. Jehoiachin king of Judah, along with his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials, surrendered to the king of Babylon. So the king of Babylon took him [captive] in the eighth year of his reign. He also carried off from there all the treasures of the Lord's temple and the treasures of the king's palace, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the Lord's sanctuary, just as God had predicted. Then he deported all Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the fighting men, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and metalsmiths. Except for the poorest people of the land, nobody remained. Nebuchadnezzar deported Jehoiachin to Babylon. Also, he took the king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. The king of Babylon also brought captive into Babylon all 7,000 fighting men and 1,000 craftsmen and metalsmiths-all strong and fit for war. Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king; he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; [she was] from Libnah.
In the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall against it all around. The city was under siege until King Zedekiah's eleventh year. read more. By the ninth day of the [fourth] month the famine was so severe in the city that the people of the land had no food. Then the city was broken into, and all the warriors [fled] by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king's garden, even though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. As the king made his way along the route to the Arabah, the Chaldean army pursued him and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah's entire army was scattered from him. The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. They slaughtered Zedekiah's sons before his eyes. Finally, the king of Babylon blinded Zedekiah, bound him in bronze [chains], and took him to Babylon.
On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah's King Jehoiachin, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year he became king, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah [and released him] from prison. He spoke kindly to him and set his throne over the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon. read more. So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and he dined regularly in the presence of the king of Babylon for the rest of his life. As for his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king, a portion for each day, for the rest of his life.
These were the heads of their ancestral houses: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were brave warriors, famous men, and heads of their patriarchal families.
Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a warrior among the Thirty and [a leader] over the Thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite;
But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, "What is [the issue] between you and me, king of Judah? I have not come against you today but to the dynasty I am fighting. God told me to hurry. Stop opposing God who is with me; don't make Him destroy you!"
The priests [included]: Jedaiah's descendants of the house of Jeshua 973 Immer's descendants 1,052 read more. Pashhur's descendants 1,247 Harim's descendants 1,017
These are the priests and Levites who went up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
The Lord God has given Me the tongue of those who are instructed to know how to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens [Me] each morning; He awakens My ear to listen like those being instructed.
The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests living in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah. read more. It also came throughout the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.
I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
Then the Lord reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and told me: Look, I have filled your mouth with My words. See, today I have set you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and demolish, to build and plant.
In the days of King Josiah the Lord asked me, "Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has ascended every high hill and gone under every green tree to prostitute herself there. I thought: After she has done all these things, she will return to Me. But she didn't return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. read more. I observed that it was because unfaithful Israel had committed adultery that I had sent her away and had given her a certificate of divorce. Nevertheless, her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid but also went and prostituted herself. Indifferent to her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and tree. Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn't return to Me with all her heart-only in pretense." [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. The Lord announced to me, "Unfaithful Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say: Return, unfaithful Israel. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. I will not look on you with anger, for I am unfailing in My love. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt- you have rebelled against the Lord your God. You have scattered your favors to strangers under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice. [This is] the Lord's declaration. "Return, you faithless children"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"for I am your master, and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds who are loyal to Me,and they will shepherd you with knowledge and skill. When you multiply and increase in the land, in those days"-the Lord's declaration-"no one will say any longer: The ark of the Lord's covenant. It will never come to mind, and no one will remember or miss it. It will never again be made. At that time Jerusalem will be called, The Lord's Throne, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord in Jerusalem. They will cease to follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. In those days the house of Judah will join with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land I have given your ancestors to inherit."
A sound is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, for they have perverted their way; they have forgotten the Lord their God. Return, you faithless children. I will heal your unfaithfulness. "Here we are, coming to You, for You are the Lord our God. read more. Surely, falsehood comes from the hills, commotion from the mountains, but the salvation of Israel is only in the Lord our God. From the time of our youth the shameful one has consumed what our fathers have worked for- their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. Let us lie down in our shame; let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the Lord our God, both we and our fathers, from the time of our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God."
For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up the unplowed ground; do not sow among the thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish [it] because of your evil deeds.
For a voice announces from Dan, proclaiming malice from Mount Ephraim.
[This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
[This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
what I did to Shiloh I will do to the house that is called by My name-the house in which you trust-the place that I gave you and your ancestors. I will drive you from My presence, just as I drove out all of your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.
for when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak with them or command them concerning burnt offering and sacrifice. However, I did give them this command: Obey Me, and then I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in every way I command you so that it may go well with you."
I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and gladness and the voices of the bridegroom and the bride, for the land will become a desolate waste.
Death will be chosen over life by all the survivors of this evil family, those who remain wherever I have banished them." [This is] the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.
Death will be chosen over life by all the survivors of this evil family, those who remain wherever I have banished them." [This is] the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.
How can you claim: We are wise; the law of the Lord is with us? In fact, the lying pen of scribes has produced falsehood.
My joy has flown away; grief has settled on me. My heart is sick.
If only I had a traveler's lodging place in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a solemn assembly of treacherous people.
This is what the Lord says: The wise must not boast in his wisdom; the mighty must not boast in his might; the rich must not boast in his riches.
This is what the Lord says: The wise must not boast in his wisdom; the mighty must not boast in his might; the rich must not boast in his riches.
This is what the Lord says: The wise must not boast in his wisdom; the mighty must not boast in his might; the rich must not boast in his riches. But the one who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows Me- that I am the Lord, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. [This is] the Lord's declaration. read more. "The days are coming"-the Lord's declaration-"when I will punish all the circumcised yet uncircumcised: Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, all those who clip the hair on their temples and reside in the wilderness. All these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."
Hear the word that the Lord has spoken to you, house of Israel. This is what the Lord says: Do not learn the way of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, although the nations are terrified by them,
This is what the Lord says: Do not learn the way of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, although the nations are terrified by them, for the customs of the peoples are worthless. Someone cuts down a tree from the forest; [it is] worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel.
for the customs of the peoples are worthless. Someone cuts down a tree from the forest; [it is] worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel. He decorates it with silver and gold. It is fastened with hammer and nails, so it won't totter.
He decorates it with silver and gold. It is fastened with hammer and nails, so it won't totter. Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them for they can do no harm- and they cannot do any good.
Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them for they can do no harm- and they cannot do any good. Lord, there is no one like You. You are great; Your name is great in power.
Lord, there is no one like You. You are great; Your name is great in power. Who should not fear You, King of the nations? It is what You deserve. For among all the wise people of the nations and among all their kingdoms, there is no one like You.
Who should not fear You, King of the nations? It is what You deserve. For among all the wise people of the nations and among all their kingdoms, there is no one like You. They are both senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols [made of] wood!
They are both senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols [made of] wood! Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz from the hands of a goldsmith, the work of a craftsman. Their clothing is blue and purple, all the work of skilled artisans.
Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz from the hands of a goldsmith, the work of a craftsman. Their clothing is blue and purple, all the work of skilled artisans. But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His rage.
But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His rage. You are to say this to them: The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.
You are to say this to them: The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens. He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and spread out the heavens by His understanding.
He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and spread out the heavens by His understanding. When He thunders, the waters in the heavens are in turmoil, and He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings the wind from His storehouses.
When He thunders, the waters in the heavens are in turmoil, and He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings the wind from His storehouses. Everyone is stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith is put to shame by [his] carved image, for his cast images are a lie; there is no breath in them.
Everyone is stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith is put to shame by [his] carved image, for his cast images are a lie; there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work to be mocked. At the time of their punishment they will be destroyed.
They are worthless, a work to be mocked. At the time of their punishment they will be destroyed. Jacob's Portion is not like these because He is the One who formed all things. Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; the Lord of Hosts is His name.
Jacob's Portion is not like these because He is the One who formed all things. Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; the Lord of Hosts is His name.
Jacob's Portion is not like these because He is the One who formed all things. Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; the Lord of Hosts is His name.
Jacob's Portion is not like these because He is the One who formed all things. Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; the Lord of Hosts is His name.
[This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
[This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "Listen to the words of this covenant, and tell them to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem.
"Listen to the words of this covenant, and tell them to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem. You must tell them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,
You must tell them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant, which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace. I declared: 'Obey Me, and do everything that I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God,'
which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace. I declared: 'Obey Me, and do everything that I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God,' in order to establish the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give [them] a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today." I answered, "Amen, Lord."
in order to establish the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give [them] a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today." I answered, "Amen, Lord." The Lord said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out.
The Lord said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out. For I strongly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt until today, warning them time and time again: Obey My voice.
For I strongly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt until today, warning them time and time again: Obey My voice.
For I strongly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt until today, warning them time and time again: Obey My voice. Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant, because they had not done what I commanded [them] to do."
Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant, because they had not done what I commanded [them] to do."
Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant, because they had not done what I commanded [them] to do."
If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
I have abandoned My house; I have deserted My inheritance. I have given the love of My life into the hand of her enemies. My inheritance has acted toward Me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against Me. Therefore, I hate her. read more. Is My inheritance like a hyena to Me? Are birds of prey circling her? Go, gather all the wild animals; bring them to devour [her].
Is My inheritance like a hyena to Me? Are birds of prey circling her? Go, gather all the wild animals; bring them to devour [her]. Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of land. They have turned My desirable plot into a desolate wasteland. read more. They have made it a desolation. It mourns, desolate, before Me. All the land is desolate, but no one takes it to heart. Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the Lord has a sword that devours from one end of the earth to the other. No one has peace. They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves but have no profit. Be put to shame by your harvests because of the Lord's burning anger. This is what the Lord says: "Concerning all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people, Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.
This is what the Lord says: "Concerning all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people, Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land. read more. If they will diligently learn the ways of My people-to swear by My name, 'As the Lord lives,' just as they taught My people to swear by Baal-they will be built up among My people. However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation." [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.
I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.
Woe is me, my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man who incites dispute and conflict in all the land. I did not lend or borrow, yet everyone curses me.
Woe is me, my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man who incites dispute and conflict in all the land. I did not lend or borrow, yet everyone curses me. The Lord said: Assuredly, I will set you free and care for you. Assuredly, I will intercede for you in a time of trouble, in your time of distress, with the enemy.
You know, Lord; remember me and take note of me. Avenge me against my persecutors. In Your patience, don't take me away. Know that I suffer disgrace for Your honor. Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart, for I am called by Your name, Lord God of Hosts. read more. I never sat with the band of revelers, and I did not celebrate [with them]. Because Your hand was [on me], I sat alone, for You filled me with indignation. Why has my pain become unending, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? You truly have become like a mirage to me- water that is not reliable. Therefore, this is what the Lord says: If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak noble [words], rather than worthless ones, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must return to you; you must not return to them. Then I will make you a fortified wall of bronze to this people. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. I will deliver you from the power of evil people and redeem you from the control of the ruthless.
The word of the Lord came to me: "You must not marry or have sons or daughters in this place. read more. For this is what the Lord says concerning sons and daughters born in this place as well as concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who father them in this land: They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like manure on the face of the earth. They will be finished off by sword and famine. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land. "For this is what the Lord says: Don't enter a house where a mourning feast is taking place. Don't go to lament or sympathize with them, for I have removed My peace from these people"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"[as well as My] faithful love and compassion. Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them. Food won't be provided for the mourner to comfort him because of the dead. A cup of consolation won't be given him because of [the loss of] his father or mother. You must not enter the house where feasting is taking place to sit with them to eat and drink. For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to eliminate from this place, before your very eyes and in your time, the sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the bride.
For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to eliminate from this place, before your very eyes and in your time, the sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the bride. "When you tell these people all these things, they will say to you: Why has the Lord declared all this great disaster against us? What is our guilt? What is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God? read more. Then you will answer them: Because your fathers abandoned Me"-the Lord's declaration-"and followed other gods, served them, and worshiped them. Indeed, they abandoned Me and did not keep My law. You did more evil than your fathers. Look, each one of you was following the stubbornness of his evil heart, not obeying Me. So I will hurl you from this land into a land that you and your fathers are not familiar with. There you will worship other gods both day and night, for I will not grant you grace.
The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus. With a diamond point it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars, while their children remember their altars and their Asherah poles, by the green trees on the high hills- read more. My mountains in the countryside. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give up as plunder because of the sin of your high places within all your borders. You will, of yourself, relinquish your inheritance that I gave you. I will make you serve your enemies in a land you do not know, for you have set My anger on fire; it will burn forever.
Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise. Hear how they keep challenging me, "Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come!" read more. But I have not run away from being Your shepherd, and I have not longed for the fatal day. You know my words were spoken in Your presence.
But I have not run away from being Your shepherd, and I have not longed for the fatal day. You know my words were spoken in Your presence. Don't become a terror to me. You are my refuge in the day of disaster. read more. Let my persecutors be put to shame, but don't let me be put to shame. Let them be terrified, but don't let me be terrified. Bring on them the day of disaster; shatter them with total destruction. This is what the Lord said to me, "Go and stand in the People's Gate, through which the kings of Judah enter and leave, and in all the gates of Jerusalem. Announce to them: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, all Judah, and all the residents of Jerusalem who enter through these gates. This is what the Lord says: Watch yourselves; do not pick up a load and bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. You must not carry a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day or do any work, but you must consecrate the Sabbath day, just as I commanded your ancestors. They wouldn't listen or pay attention but became obstinate, not listening or accepting discipline. "However, if you listen to Me, says the Lord, and do not bring loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day and consecrate the Sabbath day and do no work on it, kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses with their officials, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. This city will be inhabited forever. Then [people] will come from the cities of Judah and from the area around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the Judean foothills, from the hill country and from the Negev bringing burnt offerings and sacrifice, grain offerings and frankincense, and thank offerings to the house of the Lord. If you do not listen to Me to consecrate the Sabbath day by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, I will set fire to its gates, and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem and not be extinguished."
Then certain ones said, "Come, let's make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost from the priest, or counsel from the wise, or an oracle from the prophet. Come, let's denounce him and pay no attention to all his words." Pay attention to me, Lord. Hear what my opponents are saying! read more. Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your anger from them.
Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your anger from them. Therefore, hand their children over to famine, and pour the sword's power on them. Let their wives become childless and widowed, their husbands slain by deadly disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle. read more. Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet. But You, Lord, know all their deadly plots against me. Do not wipe out their guilt; do not blot out their sin before You. Let them be forced to stumble before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger.
You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived. You seized me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all the time; everyone ridicules me. For whenever I speak, I cry out- I proclaim: Violence and destruction! because the word of the Lord has become for me constant disgrace and derision. read more. If I say: I won't mention Him or speak any longer in His name, His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail. For I have heard the gossip of the multitudes, "Terror is on every side! Report [him]; let's report him!" Everyone I trusted watches for my fall. "Perhaps he will be deceived so that we might prevail against him and take our vengeance on him." But the Lord is with me like a violent warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly shamed, an everlasting humiliation that will never be forgotten. Lord of Hosts, testing the righteous and seeing the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance on them, for I have presented my case to You. Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord, for He rescues the life of the needy from the hand of evil people. Cursed be the day on which I was born. The day my mother bore me- let it never be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, saying, "A male child is born to you," bringing him great joy. Let that man be like the cities the Lord overthrew without compassion. Let him hear an outcry in the morning and a war cry at noontime because he didn't kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, her womb eternally pregnant. Why did I come out of the womb to see [only] struggle and sorrow, to end my life in shame?
[This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah, asking,
[This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah, asking, "Ask the Lord on our behalf, since Nebuchadnezzarking of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will perform for us something like all His [past] wonderful works so that [Nebuchadnezzar] will withdraw from us."
"Ask the Lord on our behalf, since Nebuchadnezzarking of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will perform for us something like all His [past] wonderful works so that [Nebuchadnezzar] will withdraw from us." But Jeremiah answered, "This is what you are to say to Zedekiah:
But Jeremiah answered, "This is what you are to say to Zedekiah: 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will repel the weapons of war in your hands, those you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall, and I will bring them into the center of this city.
'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will repel the weapons of war in your hands, those you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall, and I will bring them into the center of this city. I will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, with anger, rage, and great wrath.
I will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, with anger, rage, and great wrath. I will strike the residents of this city, both man and beast. They will die in a great plague.
I will strike the residents of this city, both man and beast. They will die in a great plague. Afterwards'"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"'King Zedekiah of Judah, his officers, and the people-those in this city who survive the plague, the sword, and the famine-I will hand over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, to their enemies, yes, to those who want to take their lives. He will put them to the sword; he won't spare them or show pity or compassion.'
Afterwards'"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"'King Zedekiah of Judah, his officers, and the people-those in this city who survive the plague, the sword, and the famine-I will hand over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, to their enemies, yes, to those who want to take their lives. He will put them to the sword; he won't spare them or show pity or compassion.' "But you must say to this people, 'This is what the Lord says: Look, I am presenting to you the way of life and the way of death.
"But you must say to this people, 'This is what the Lord says: Look, I am presenting to you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and will retain his life like the spoils [of war].
Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and will retain his life like the spoils [of war]. For I have turned against this city to [bring] disaster and not good""-[this is] the Lord's declaration. "'It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, who will burn it down.'
For I have turned against this city to [bring] disaster and not good""-[this is] the Lord's declaration. "'It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, who will burn it down.' "And to the house of the king of Judah [say this]: 'Hear the word of the Lord!
Woe for the one who builds his palace through unrighteousness, his upper rooms through injustice, who makes his fellow man serve without pay and will not give him his wages,
Woe for the one who builds his palace through unrighteousness, his upper rooms through injustice, who makes his fellow man serve without pay and will not give him his wages, who says: I will build myself a massive palace, with spacious upper rooms. He will cut windows in it, and it will be paneled with cedar and painted with vermilion.
who says: I will build myself a massive palace, with spacious upper rooms. He will cut windows in it, and it will be paneled with cedar and painted with vermilion. Are you a king because you excel in cedar? Your own father, did he not eat and drink? He administered justice and righteousness, then it went well with him.
Are you a king because you excel in cedar? Your own father, did he not eat and drink? He administered justice and righteousness, then it went well with him.
Are you a king because you excel in cedar? Your own father, did he not eat and drink? He administered justice and righteousness, then it went well with him. He took up the case of the poor and needy, then it went well. Is this not what it means to know Me? [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.
He took up the case of the poor and needy, then it went well. Is this not what it means to know Me? [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.
He took up the case of the poor and needy, then it went well. Is this not what it means to know Me? [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. But you have eyes and heart for nothing except your own unjust gain, shedding innocent blood and committing extortion and oppression.
But you have eyes and heart for nothing except your own unjust gain, shedding innocent blood and committing extortion and oppression.
But you have eyes and heart for nothing except your own unjust gain, shedding innocent blood and committing extortion and oppression. Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: They will not mourn for him, [saying,] Woe, my brother! or Woe, [my] sister! They will not mourn for him, saying, Woe, lord! Woe, his majesty!
Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: They will not mourn for him, [saying,] Woe, my brother! or Woe, [my] sister! They will not mourn for him, saying, Woe, lord! Woe, his majesty! He will be buried [like] a donkey, dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.
He will be buried [like] a donkey, dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.
"As I live," says the Lord, "though you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would tear you from it. In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread, who want to take your life, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans. read more. I will hurl you and the mother who gave birth to you into another land, where neither of you were born, and there you will both die. They will never return to the land they long to return to." Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered pot, a jar no one wants? Why are he and his descendants hurled out and cast into a land they have not known? Earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says: Record this man as childless, a man who will not be successful in his lifetime. None of his descendants will succeed in sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah.
For who has stood in the council of the Lord to see and hear His word? Who has paid attention to His word and obeyed?
I will bring on you everlasting shame and humiliation that will never be forgotten."
I will eliminate the sound of joy and gladness from them-the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years.
Another man was also prophesying in the name of the Lord-Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like all those of Jeremiah. King Jehoiakim, all his warriors, and all the officials heard his words, and the king tried to put him to death. When Uriah heard, he fled in fear and went to Egypt. read more. But King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan son of Achbor and [certain other] men with him [went] to Egypt. They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who executed him with the sword and threw his corpse into the burial place of the common people. But Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.
At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "This is what the Lord said to me: Make fetters and yoke bars for yourself and put them on your neck. read more. Send [word] to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon through messengers who are coming to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem. Command them [to go] to their masters, saying: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: This is what you must say to your masters: By My great strength and outstretched arm, I made the earth, and the people, and animals on the face of the earth. I give it to anyone I please. So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. I have even given him the wild animals to serve him. All nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until the time for his own land comes, and then many nations and great kings will enslave him. "As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish by sword, famine, and plague"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"until through him I have destroyed it. But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers who say to you: Don't serve the king of Babylon! for they prophesy a lie to you so that you will be removed from your land. I will banish you, and you will perish. But as for the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave it in its own land, and that nation will till it and reside in it." [This is] the Lord's declaration.
For this is what the Lord says: "When 70 years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm My promise concerning you to restore you to this place.
But this is what the Lord says concerning the king sitting on David's throne and concerning all the people living in this city-that is, concerning your brothers who did not go with you into exile. This is what the Lord of Hosts says: "I am about to send against them sword, famine, and plague and will make them like rotten figs that are inedible because they are so bad. read more. I will pursue them with sword, famine, and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth-a curse and a desolation, an object of scorn and a disgrace among all the nations where I will have banished them. [I will do this] because they have not listened to My words"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"that I sent to them with My servants the prophets time and time again.And you too have not listened." [This is] the Lord's declaration. Hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.
for the days are certainly coming"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah"-the Lord's declaration. "I will restore them to the land I gave to their ancestors and they will possess it."
Again I will build you so that you will be rebuilt, Virgin Israel. You will take up your tambourines again and go forth in joyful dancing. You will plant vineyards again on the mountains of Samaria; the planters will plant and will enjoy [the fruit].
I have heard Ephraim moaning: You disciplined me, and I have been disciplined like an untrained calf. Restore me, and I will return, for you, Lord, are my God.
"Look, the days are coming"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. [This one will] not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt-a covenant they broke even though I had married them"-the Lord's declaration. read more. "Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days"-the Lord's declaration. "I will place My law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying: Know the Lord, for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them"-the Lord's declaration. "For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin."
For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.' "After I had given the purchase agreement to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord: read more. Ah, Lord God ! You Yourself made the heavens and earth by Your great power and with Your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You! You show faithful love to thousands but lay the fathers' sins on their sons' laps after them, great and mighty God whose name is the Lord of Hosts, the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men in order to give to each person according to his ways and the result of his deeds. You performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and do so to this very day both in Israel and among mankind. You made a name for Yourself, as [is the case] today. You brought Your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror. You gave them this land You swore [to give] to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey. They entered and possessed it, but they did not obey Your voice or live according to Your law. They failed to perform all You commanded them to do, and so You have brought all this disaster on them. Look! Siege ramps have come against the city to capture it, and the city, as a result of the sword, famine, and plague, has been handed over to the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened. Look, You can see it! Yet You, Lord God , have said to me: Buy the field with silver and call in witnesses-even though the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans!" Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "Look, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me? Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to hand this city over to the Chaldeans, to Babylon's king Nebuchadnezzar, and he will capture it. The Chaldeans who are going to fight against this city will come, set this city on fire, and burn it along with the houses where incense has been burned to Baal on their rooftops and where drink offerings have been poured out to other gods to provoke Me to anger. From their youth, the Israelites and Judeans have done nothing but what is evil in My sight! They have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their hands"-[this is] the Lord's declaration- "for this city has been up against My wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. I will therefore remove it from My presence,
"for this city has been up against My wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. I will therefore remove it from My presence, because of all the evil the Israelites and Judeans have done to provoke Me to anger-they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem.
because of all the evil the Israelites and Judeans have done to provoke Me to anger-they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them time and time again, they do not listen and receive discipline.
They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them time and time again, they do not listen and receive discipline. They have placed their detestable things in the house that is called by My name and have defiled it.
They have placed their detestable things in the house that is called by My name and have defiled it. They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through [the fire] to Molech-something I had not commanded them. I had never entertained the thought that they do this detestable act causing Judah to sin!
They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through [the fire] to Molech-something I had not commanded them. I had never entertained the thought that they do this detestable act causing Judah to sin! "Now therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to this city about which you said: It has been handed over to Babylon's king through sword, famine, and plague:
"Now therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to this city about which you said: It has been handed over to Babylon's king through sword, famine, and plague: I am about to gather them from all the lands where I have banished them in My wrath, rage, and great fury, and I will return them to this place and make them live in safety.
I am about to gather them from all the lands where I have banished them in My wrath, rage, and great fury, and I will return them to this place and make them live in safety. They will be My people, and I will be their God.
They will be My people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way so that for their good and for [the good of] their descendants after them, they will fear Me always.
I will give them one heart and one way so that for their good and for [the good of] their descendants after them, they will fear Me always.
I will give them one heart and one way so that for their good and for [the good of] their descendants after them, they will fear Me always. "I will make with them an everlasting covenant: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put fear of Me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from Me.
"I will make with them an everlasting covenant: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put fear of Me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from Me. I will rejoice over them to do what is good to them, and I will plant them faithfully in this land with all My mind and heart.
I will rejoice over them to do what is good to them, and I will plant them faithfully in this land with all My mind and heart. "For this is what the Lord says: Just as I have brought all this great disaster on these people, so am I about to bring on them all the good I am promising them.
"For this is what the Lord says: Just as I have brought all this great disaster on these people, so am I about to bring on them all the good I am promising them. Fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying: It's a desolation without man or beast; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans!
Fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying: It's a desolation without man or beast; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans! Fields will be purchased with silver, the transaction written on a scroll and sealed, and witnesses will be called on in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in Judah's cities-the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Judean foothills, and the cities of the Negev-because I will restore their fortunes." [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.
Fields will be purchased with silver, the transaction written on a scroll and sealed, and witnesses will be called on in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in Judah's cities-the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Judean foothills, and the cities of the Negev-because I will restore their fortunes." [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.
a sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, and the voice of those saying, Praise the Lord of Hosts, for the Lord is good; His faithful love endures forever as they bring thank offerings to the temple of the Lord. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as in former times, says the Lord.
"Look, the days are coming"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"when I will fulfill the good promises that I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
"Look, the days are coming"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"when I will fulfill the good promises that I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a Branch of righteousness to sprout up for David, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
In those days and at that time I will cause a Branch of righteousness to sprout up for David, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is what she will be named: The Lord Is Our Righteousness.
In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is what she will be named: The Lord Is Our Righteousness. For this is what the Lord says: David will never fail to have a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel.
For this is what the Lord says: David will never fail to have a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel. The Levitical priests will never fail to have a man always before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices."
The Levitical priests will never fail to have a man always before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices." The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "This is what the Lord says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time,
"This is what the Lord says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time, then also My covenant with My servant David may be broken so that he will not have a son reigning on his throne, and the Levitical priests will not be My ministers.
then also My covenant with My servant David may be broken so that he will not have a son reigning on his throne, and the Levitical priests will not be My ministers. The hosts of heaven cannot be counted; the sand of the sea cannot be measured. So, too, I will make the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister to Me innumerable."
The hosts of heaven cannot be counted; the sand of the sea cannot be measured. So, too, I will make the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister to Me innumerable." The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "Have you not noticed what these people have said? They say: The Lord has rejected the two families He had chosen. My people are treated with contempt and no longer regarded as a nation among them.
"Have you not noticed what these people have said? They say: The Lord has rejected the two families He had chosen. My people are treated with contempt and no longer regarded as a nation among them. This is what the Lord says: If I do not [keep] My covenant with the day and with the night and fail to establish the fixed order of heaven and earth,
This is what the Lord says: If I do not [keep] My covenant with the day and with the night and fail to establish the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I might also reject the seed of Jacob and of My servant David-not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them."
then I might also reject the seed of Jacob and of My servant David-not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them."
So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons-the entire house of the Rechabites-
"Take a scroll, and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations from the time I [first] spoke to you during Josiah's reign until today.
Then at the Lord's temple, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper courtyard at the opening of the New Gate of the Lord's temple, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read Jeremiah's words from the scroll.
Baruch said to them, "At his dictation. He recited all these words to me while I was writing on the scroll in ink." The officials said to Baruch, "You and Jeremiah must hide yourselves and tell no one where you are."
Then the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord had hidden them. After the king had burned the scroll with the words Baruch had written at Jeremiah's dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
After the king had burned the scroll with the words Baruch had written at Jeremiah's dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "Take another scroll, and once again write on it the very words that were on the original scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned.
"Take another scroll, and once again write on it the very words that were on the original scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned. You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: This is what the Lord says: You have burned the scroll, saying: Why have you written on it: The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and cause it to be without man or beast?
You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: This is what the Lord says: You have burned the scroll, saying: Why have you written on it: The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and cause it to be without man or beast? Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David's throne, and his corpse will be thrown out [to be exposed] to the heat of day and the frost of night.
Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David's throne, and his corpse will be thrown out [to be exposed] to the heat of day and the frost of night. I will punish him, his descendants, and his officers for their wrongdoing. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the disaster, which I warned them about but they did not listen." read more. Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at Jeremiah's dictation all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim, Judah's king, had burned in the fire. And many other words like them were added.
Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at Jeremiah's dictation all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim, Judah's king, had burned in the fire. And many other words like them were added.
Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at Jeremiah's dictation all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim, Judah's king, had burned in the fire. And many other words like them were added.
Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at Jeremiah's dictation all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim, Judah's king, had burned in the fire. And many other words like them were added.
Pharaoh's army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem. The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: read more. "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: This is what you will say to Judah's king, who is sending you to inquire of Me: Watch: Pharaoh's army, which has come out to help you, is going to return to its own land of Egypt. The Chaldeans will then return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down. This is what the Lord says: Don't deceive yourselves by saying: The Chaldeans will leave us for good, for they will not leave. Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire Chaldean army that is fighting with you, and there remained among them only the badly wounded men, each in his tent, they would get up and burn this city down." When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh's army, Jeremiah [started to] leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people. But when he was at the Benjamin Gate, an officer of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, and he apprehended Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "You are deserting to the Chaldeans." "[That's] a lie," Jeremiah replied. "I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!" Irijah would not listen to him but apprehended Jeremiah and took him to the officials.
Jeremiah remained in the guard's courtyard until the day Jerusalem was captured, and he was [there] when it happened.
Those who flee will stand exhausted in Heshbon's shadow because fire has come out from Heshbon and a flame from within Sihon. It will devour Moab's forehead and the skull of the noisemakers. Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished because your sons have been taken captive and your daughters have gone into captivity. read more. Yet, I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the last days. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. The judgment on Moab ends here.
"Look, it will be like a lion coming up from the thickets of the Jordan to the perennially watered grazing land. Indeed, I will chase Edom away from her [land] in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like Me? Who will summon Me? Who is the shepherd who can stand against Me?"
The word the Lord spoke about Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet: Announce to the nations; proclaim and raise up a signal flag; proclaim, and hide nothing. Say: Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is devastated; her idols are put to shame; her false gods, devastated.
Come out from among her, My people! Save your lives, each of you, from the Lord's burning anger. May you not become faint-hearted and fearful when the report is proclaimed in the land, for the report will come one year, and then another the next year. There will be violence in the land with ruler against ruler. read more. Therefore, look, the days are coming when I will punish Babylon's carved images. Her entire land will suffer shame, and all her slain will lie fallen within her. Heaven and earth and everything in them will shout for joy over Babylon because the destroyers from the north will come against her. [This is] the Lord's declaration.
This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Babylon's thick walls will be totally demolished, and her high gates consumed by fire. The peoples will have labored for nothing; the nations will exhaust themselves [only to feed] the fire.
This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Babylon's thick walls will be totally demolished, and her high gates consumed by fire. The peoples will have labored for nothing; the nations will exhaust themselves [only to feed] the fire. [This is] what Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, the quartermaster, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign.
Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king; he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; [she was] from Libnah. Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord's sight just as Jehoiakim had done. read more. Because of the Lord's anger, it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that He finally banished them from His presence. Nevertheless, Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
These are the people Nebuchadnezzar deported: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
These are the people Nebuchadnezzar deported: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; in his eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem;
in his eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; in Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, deported 745 Jews. All together 4,600 people [were deported].
in Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, deported 745 Jews. All together 4,600 people [were deported].
The word of the Lord came to me: "Now say to that rebellious house: Don't you know what these things mean? Tell [them]: The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon. read more. He took one of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he took away the leading men of the land, so the kingdom might be humble and not exalt itself but might keep his covenant in order to endure. However, this king revolted against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt so they might give him horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and [still] escape?
However, this king revolted against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt so they might give him horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and [still] escape? "As I live"-[this is] the declaration of the Lord God -"he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke. read more. Pharaoh will not help him with [his] great army and vast horde in battle, when ramps are built and siege walls constructed to destroy many lives. He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. He did all these things even though he gave his hand [in pledge]. He will not escape!" Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: "As I live, I will bring down on his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke. I will spread My net over him, and he will be captured in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment on him there for the treachery he committed against Me. All the fugitives among his troops will fall by the sword, and those who survive will be scattered to every direction of the wind. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken."
Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with injustice! Is it not from the Lord of Hosts, that the peoples labor [only] to fuel the fire and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?
For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after He had said: read more. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws on their hearts, and I will write them on their minds, [He adds]: I will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts. Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
Morish
Jeremiah. Jeremi'ah
1. Man of Libnah, whose daughter Hamutal was the wife of Josiah. 2Ki 23:31; 24:18; Jer 52:1.
2. Head of a family in the tribe of Manasseh. 1Ch 5:24.
3. One who resorted to David at Ziklag. 1Ch 12:4.
4, 5. Two of the Gadites who resorted to David at Ziklag. 1Ch 12:10,13.
6. Son of Hilkiah, priest of Anathoth: the writer of the Book of Jeremiah. His history is contained in his prophecy. He was carried to Egypt by the rebellious Jews and his end is not recorded. 2Ch 35:25; 36:12,21-22; Ezr 1:1; Jer. 1
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king; he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; [she was] from Libnah.
Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king; he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; [she was] from Libnah.
These were the heads of their ancestral houses: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were brave warriors, famous men, and heads of their patriarchal families.
Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a warrior among the Thirty and [a leader] over the Thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad the Gederathite; Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite;
Jeremiah chanted a dirge over Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women still speak of Josiah in their dirges to this very day. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Dirges.
He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet at the Lord's command.
This fulfilled the word of the Lord through Jeremiah and the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation until 70 years were fulfilled. In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The Lord put it into the mind of King Cyrus of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and also [to put it] in writing:
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The Lord put it into the mind of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and [to put it] in writing:
These are the priests and Levites who went up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
In the days of Joiakim, the leaders of the priestly families were: Meraiah of Seraiah, Hananiah of Jeremiah,
In the days of King Josiah the Lord asked me, "Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has ascended every high hill and gone under every green tree to prostitute herself there.
The Lord announced to me, "Unfaithful Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
This is what the Lord says: "Concerning all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people, Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.
At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
In those days and at that time I will cause a Branch of righteousness to sprout up for David, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons-the entire house of the Rechabites-
Israel is a stray lamb, chased by lions. The first who devoured him was the king of Assyria; this last who has crunched his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria. read more. I will return Israel to his grazing land, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan; he will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and of Gilead. In those days and at that time- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration- one will search for Israel's guilt, but there will be none, and for Judah's sins, but they will not be found, for I will forgive those I leave as a remnant.
Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king; he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; [she was] from Libnah.
Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
He was still speaking to the crowds when suddenly His mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to Him.
For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven, that person is My brother and sister and mother."
As He approached and saw the city, He wept over it,
Smith
Jeremi'ah
(whom Jehovah has appointed) was "the son of Hilkiah of the priests that were in Anathoth."
1. History. --He was called very young (B.C. 626) to the prophetic office, and prophesied forty-two years; but we have hardly any mention of him during the eighteen years between his call and Josiah's death, or during the short reign of Jehoahaz. During the reigns of Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin, B.C. 607-598, he opposed the Egyptian party, then dominant in Jerusalem, and maintained that they only way of safety lay in accepting the supremacy of the Chaldeans. He was accordingly accused of treachery, and men claiming to be prophets had the "word of Jehovah" to set against his.
As the danger from the Chaldeans became more threatening, the persecution against Jeremiah grew hotter. ch. 18. The people sought his life; then follows the scene in
he was set, however, "as a fenced brazen wall," ch.
and went on with his work, reproving king and nobles and people. The danger which Jeremiah had so long foretold at last came near. First Jehoiakim, and afterwards his successor Jehoiachin, were carried into exile, 2Kin 24; but Zedekiah, B.C. 597-586, who was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, was more friendly to the prophet, though powerless to help him. The approach of an Egyptian army, and the consequent departure of the Chaldeans, made the position of Jeremiah full of danger, and he sought to effect his escape from the city; but he was seized and finally thrown into a prison-pit to die, but was rescued. On the return of the Chaldean army he showed his faith in God's promises, and sought to encourage the people by purchasing the field at Anathoth which his kinsman Hanameel wished to get rid of.
At last the blow came. The city was taken, the temple burnt. The king and his princes shared the fate of Jehoiachin. The prophet gave utterance to his sorrow in the Lamentations. After the capture of Jerusalem, B.C. 586, by the Chaldeans, we find Jeremiah receiving better treatment; but after the death of Gedaliah, the people, disregarding his warnings, took refuge in Egypt, carrying the prophet with them. In captivity his words were sharper and stronger than ever. He did not shrink, even there, from speaking of the Chaldean king once more as "the servant of Jehovah."
After this all is uncertain, but he probably died in Egypt.
2. Character. --Canon Cook says of Jeremiah, "His character is most interesting. We find him sensitive to a most painful degree, timid, shy, hopeless, desponding, constantly complaining and dissatisfied with the course of events, but never flinching from duty...Timid in resolve, he was unflinching in execution; as fearless when he had to face the whole world as he was dispirited and prone to murmuring when alone with God. Judged by his own estimate of himself, he was feeble, and his mission a failure; really, in the hour of action and when duty called him, he was in very truth 'a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land.' ch.
he was a noble example of the triumph of the moral over the physical nature." (It is not strange that he was desponding when we consider his circumstances. He saw the nation going straight to irremediable ruin, and turning a deaf ear to all warnings. "A reign of terror had commenced (in the preceding reign), during which not only the prophets but all who were distinguished for religion and virtue were cruelly murdered." "The nation tried to extirpate the religion of Jehovah;" "Idolatry was openly established," "and such was the universal dishonesty that no man trusted another, and society was utterly disorganized." How could one who saw the nation about to reap the awful harvest they had been sowing, and yet had a vision of what they might have been and might yet be, help indulging in "Lamentations"? --ED.)
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Then the word of the Lord came to me, asking, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I replied, "I see a branch of an almond tree."
Today, I am the One who has made you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land-against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the population.
And I replied, "Oh no, Lord God ! The prophets are telling them, 'You won't see sword or suffer famine. I will certainly give you true peace in this place.' "
Then I will make you a fortified wall of bronze to this people. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.
"Then you are to shatter the jug in the presence of the people traveling with you, and you are to proclaim to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I will shatter these people and this city, like one shatters a potter's jar that can never again be mended. They will bury in Topheth until there is no place left to bury. read more. I will do so to this place"-[this is] the declaration of the Lord-"and to its residents, making this city like Topheth. The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will become impure like that place Topheth-all the houses on whose rooftops they have burned incense to the whole heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods."
The days are coming"-the Lord's declaration-"when it will no longer be said: As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,
Jeremiah replied, "The word of the Lord came to me: 'Watch! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say: Buy my field in Anathoth for yourself, for you own the right of redemption to buy it.' read more. "Then my cousin Hanamel [came] to the guard's courtyard as the Lord had said and urged me, 'Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out to him the money-17 shekels of silver.
and tell them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will place his throne on these stones that I have embedded, and he will pitch his pavilion over them.
Watsons
JEREMIAH. The Prophet Jeremiah was of the sacerdotal race, being, as he records himself, one of the priests that dwelt at Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin, a city appropriated out of that tribe to the use of the priests, the sons of Aaron, Jos 21:18, and situate, as we learn from St. Jerom, about three miles north of Jerusalem. Some have supposed his father to have been that Hilkah, the high priest, by whom the book of the law was found in the temple in the reign of Josiah: but for this there is no better ground than his having borne the same name, which was no uncommon one among the Jews; whereas, had he been in reality the high priest, he would doubtless have been mentioned by that distinguishing title, and not put upon a level with priests of an ordinary and inferior class. Jeremiah appears to have been very young when he was called to the exercise of the prophetical office, from which he modestly endeavoured to excuse himself by pleading his youth and incapacity; but being overruled by the divine authority, he set himself to discharge the duties of his function with unremitted diligence and fidelity during a period of at least forty-two years, reckoning from the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign. In the course of his ministry he met with great difficulties and opposition from his countrymen of all degrees, whose persecution and ill usage sometimes wrought so far upon his mind, as to draw from him expressions, in the bitterness of his soul, which many have thought hard to reconcile with his religious principles; but which, when duly considered, may be found to demand our pity for his unremitted sufferings, rather than our censure for any want of piety and reverence toward God. He was, in truth, a man of unblemished piety and conscientious integrity; a warm lover of his country, whose misery he pathetically deplores; and so affectionately attached to his countrymen, notwithstanding their injurious treatment of him, that he chose rather to abide with them, and undergo all hardships in their company, than separately to enjoy a state of ease and plenty, which the favour of the king of Babylon would have secured to him. At length, after the destruction of Jerusalem, being carried with the remnant of the Jews into Egypt, whither they had resolved to retire, though contrary to his advice, upon the murder of Gedaliah, whom the Chaldeans had left governor in Judea, he there continued warmly to remonstrate against their idolatrous practices, foretelling the consequences that would inevitably follow. But his freedom and zeal are said to have cost him his life; for the Jews at Tahpanhes, according to tradition, took such offence at him that they stoned him to death. This account of the manner of his end, though not absolutely certain, is at least very probable, considering the temper and disposition of the parties concerned. Their wickedness, however, did not long pass without its reward; for, in a few years after, they were miserably destroyed, by the Babylonian armies which invaded Egypt according to the prophet's prediction, Jer 44:27-28.
The idolatrous apostasy, and other criminal enormities of the people of Judah, and the severe judgments which God was prepared to inflict upon them, but not without a distant prospect of future restoration and deliverance, are the principal subject matters of the prophecies of Jeremiah; excepting only the forty-fifth chapter, which relates personally to Baruch, and the six succeeding chapters, which respect the fortunes of some particular Heathen nations. It is observable, however, that though many of these prophecies have their particular dates annexed to them, and other dates may be tolerably well conjectured from certain internal marks and circumstances, there appears much disorder in the arrangement, not easy to be accounted for on any principle of regular design, but probably the result of some accident or other, which has disturbed the original order. The best arrangement of the chapters appears to be according to the list which will be subjoined; the different reigns in which the prophecies were delivered were most probably as follows: The first twelve chapters seem to contain all the prophecies delivered in the reign of the good King Josiah. During the short reign of Shallum, or Jehoahaz, his second son, who succeeded him, Jeremiah does not appear to have had any revelation. Jehoiakim, the eldest son of Josiah, succeeded. The prophecies of this reign are continued on from the thirteenth to the twentieth chapter inclusively; to which we must add the twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth, thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth chapters, together with the forty-fifth, forty- sixth, forty-seventh, and most probably the forty-eighth, and as far as the thirty-fourth verse of the forty-ninth chapter. Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, succeeded. We read of no prophecy that Jeremiah actually delivered in this king's reign; but the fate of Jeconiah, his being carried into captivity, and continuing an exile till the time of his death, were foretold early in his father's reign, as may be particularly seen in the twenty-second chapter. The last king of Judah was Zedekiah, the youngest son of Josiah. The prophecies delivered in his reign are contained in the twenty-first and twenty-fourth chapters, the twenty-seventh to the thirty-fourth, and the thirty-seventh to the thirty-ninth inclusively, together with the last six verses of the forty-ninth chapter, and the fiftieth and fifty-first chapters concerning the fall of Babylon. The siege of Jerusalem, in the reign of Zedekiah, and the capture of the city, are circumstantially related in the fifty-second chapter; and a particular account of the subsequent transactions is given in the fortieth to the forty-fourth inclusively. The arrangement of the chapters, alluded to above, is here subjoined: 1-20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 35, 36, 45, 24, 29-31, 27, 28, 21, 34, 37, 32, 33, 38, 39, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth verse, 39, from the first to the fourteenth verse, 40-44, 46, and so on.
The prophecies of Jeremiah, of which the circumstantial accomplishment is often specified in the Old and New Testament, are of a very distinguished and illustrious character. He foretold the fate of Zedekiah, Jer 34:2-5; 2Ch 36:11-21; 2Ki 25:5; Jer 52:11; the Babylonish captivity, the precise time of its duration, and the return of the Jews. He describes the destruction of Babylon, and the downfall of many nations, Jer 25:12; 9:26; 25:19-25; 42:10-18; 46, and the following chapters, in predictions, of which the gradual and successive completion kept up the confidence of the Jews for the accomplishment of those prophecies, which he delivered relative to the Messiah and his period, Jer 23:5-6; 30:9; 31:15; 32:14-18; 33:9-26. He foreshowed the miraculous conception of Christ, Jer 31:22, the virtue of his atonement, the spiritual character of his covenant, and the inward efficacy of his laws, Jer 31:31-36; 33:8. Jeremiah, contemplating those calamities which impended over his country, represented, in the most descriptive terms, and under the most impressive images, the destruction that the invading enemy should produce. He bewailed, in pathetic expostulation, the shameless adulteries which had provoked the Almighty, after long forbearance, to threaten Judah with inevitable punishment, at the time that false prophets deluded the nation with the promises of "assured peace," and when the people, in impious contempt of "the Lord's word," defied its accomplishment. Jeremiah intermingles with his prophecies some historical relations relative to his own conduct, and to the completion of those predictions which he had delivered. The reputation of Jeremiah had spread among foreign nations, and his prophecies were deservedly celebrated in other countries. Many Heathen writers also have undesignedly borne testimony to the truth and accuracy of his prophetic and historical descriptions.
As to the style of Jeremiah, says Bishop Lowth, this prophet is by no means wanting either in elegance or sublimity, although, generally speaking, inferior to Isaiah in both. His thoughts, indeed, are somewhat less elevated, and he is co
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Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands-four cities.
Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, all those who clip the hair on their temples and reside in the wilderness. All these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."
"The days are coming"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"when I will raise up a righteous Branch of David. He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is what He will be named: The Lord Is Our Righteousness.
When the 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation'-[this is] the Lord's declaration-'the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, and I will make it a ruin forever.
Pharaoh king of Egypt, his officers, his leaders, all his people, and all the mixed peoples; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines-Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; read more. Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites; all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands across the sea; Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all those who shave their temples; all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed peoples who have settled in the desert; all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media;
They will serve the Lord their God and I will raise up David their king for them."
This is what the Lord says: A voice was heard in Ramah, a lament with bitter weeping- Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children because they are no more.
How long will you turn here and there, faithless daughter? For the Lord creates something new in the land- a female will shelter a man.
"Look, the days are coming"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. [This one will] not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt-a covenant they broke even though I had married them"-the Lord's declaration. read more. "Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days"-the Lord's declaration. "I will place My law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying: Know the Lord, for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them"-the Lord's declaration. "For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin." This is what the Lord says: The One who gives the sun for light by day, the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar- the Lord of Hosts is His name: If this fixed order departs from My presence- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration- then also Israel's descendants will cease to be a nation before Me forever.
'This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Take these scrolls-this purchase agreement with the sealed copy and this open copy-and put them in an earthen storage jar so they will last a long time. For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.' read more. "After I had given the purchase agreement to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord: Ah, Lord God ! You Yourself made the heavens and earth by Your great power and with Your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You! You show faithful love to thousands but lay the fathers' sins on their sons' laps after them, great and mighty God whose name is the Lord of Hosts,
I will purify them from all the wrongs they have committed against Me, and I will forgive all the wrongs they have committed against Me, rebelling against Me. This city will bear on My behalf a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I will do for them. They will tremble with awe because of all the good and all the peace I will bring about for them. read more. "This is what the Lord says: In this place which you say is a ruin, without man or beast-that is, in Judah's cities and Jerusalem's streets that are a desolation without man, without inhabitant, and without beast-there will be heard again a sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, and the voice of those saying, Praise the Lord of Hosts, for the Lord is good; His faithful love endures forever as they bring thank offerings to the temple of the Lord. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as in former times, says the Lord. "This is what the Lord of Hosts says: In this desolate place-without man or beast-and in all its cities there will once more be a grazing land where shepherds may rest flocks. The flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them in the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Judean foothills, the cities of the Negev, the land of Benjamin-the cities surrounding Jerusalem and Judah's cities, says the Lord. "Look, the days are coming"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"when I will fulfill the good promises that I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a Branch of righteousness to sprout up for David, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is what she will be named: The Lord Is Our Righteousness. For this is what the Lord says: David will never fail to have a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel. The Levitical priests will never fail to have a man always before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices." The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "This is what the Lord says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time, then also My covenant with My servant David may be broken so that he will not have a son reigning on his throne, and the Levitical priests will not be My ministers. The hosts of heaven cannot be counted; the sand of the sea cannot be measured. So, too, I will make the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister to Me innumerable." The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "Have you not noticed what these people have said? They say: The Lord has rejected the two families He had chosen. My people are treated with contempt and no longer regarded as a nation among them. This is what the Lord says: If I do not [keep] My covenant with the day and with the night and fail to establish the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I might also reject the seed of Jacob and of My servant David-not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them."
"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go, speak to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and tell him: This is what the Lord says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. As for you, you will not escape from his hand but are certain to be captured and handed over to him. You will meet the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak face to face;you will go to Babylon. read more. "Yet hear the Lord's word, Zedekiah, king of Judah. This is what the Lord says concerning you: You will not die by the sword; you will die peacefully. There will be a burning ceremony for you just like the burning ceremonies for your fathers, the former kings who preceded you. Alas, lord! will be the lament for you, for I have spoken [this] word." [This is] the Lord's declaration.
'If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will rebuild and not demolish you, and I will plant and not uproot you, because I relent concerning the disaster that I have brought on you. Don't be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear; don't be afraid of him'-[this is] the Lord's declaration-'because I am with you to save you and deliver you from him. read more. I will grant you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and allow you to return to your own soil. But if you say: We will not stay in this land, so as not to obey the voice of the Lord your God, and if you say: No, instead we'll go to the land of Egypt where we will not see war or hear the sound of the ram's horn or hunger for food, and we'll live there, then hear the word of the Lord, remnant of Judah! This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: If you are firmly resolved to go to Egypt and live there for a while, then the sword you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine you are worried about will follow on your heels there to Egypt, and you will die there. All who resolve to go to Egypt to live there for a while will die by the sword, famine, and plague. They will have no survivor or escapee from the disaster I will bring on them.' "For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'Just as My anger and fury were poured out on Jerusalem's residents, so will My fury pour out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of execration, scorn, cursing, and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.'
I am watching over them for disaster and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt will meet his end by sword or famine until they are finished off. Those who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah only few in number, and the whole remnant of Judah, the ones going to the land of Egypt to live there for a while, will know whose word stands, Mine or theirs!
Then he blinded Zedekiah and bound him with bronze chains. The king of Babylon brought Zedekiah to Babylon, where he kept him in custody until his dying day.