For lo, I begin to plague the city that my name is given unto: think ye then, that I will leave you unpunished? Ye shall not go quit. For why? I call for a sword upon all the inhabiters of the earth, sayeth the LORD of Hosts.

"Thus sayeth the LORD: Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak unto all them which, out of the cities of Judah, come to do worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to say. Look that thou keep not one word back,

if peradventure they will hearken, and turn every man from his wicked way: that I may also repent of the plague, which I have determined to bring upon them, because of their wicked inventions.

Now when he had spoken out all the words that the LORD commanded him to preach unto all the people, then the priests, the prophets and all the people took hold upon him, and said, "Thou shalt die.

How darest thou be so bold, as to say in the name of the LORD, 'It shall happen to this house as it did unto Shiloh? And this city shall be so waste, that no man shall dwell therein?'"

Then said Jeremiah unto the rulers and to all the people, "The LORD hath sent me to preach against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.

Therefore amend your ways, and your advisements, and be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God: so shall the LORD repent of the plague, that he had devised against you.

But this shall ye know: if ye put me to death, ye shall make yourselves, this city and all the inhabiters thereof, guilty of innocent blood. For this is of a truth: that the LORD hath sent me unto you, to speak all these words in your ears."

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and the people of Judah put him to death for this? No verily, but rather feared the LORD, and made their prayer unto him. For the which cause also the LORD repented of the plague, that he had devised against them. Should we then do such a shameful deed against our souls?"

There was a prophet also, that preached stiffly in the name of the LORD, called Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriathjearim: this man preached also against this city and against this land, according to all as Jeremiah sayeth.

Now when Jehoiakim the king with all the estate and princes had heard his words, the king went about to slay him. When Uriah perceived that, he was afraid, and fled, and departed into Egypt.

Which fetched Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him unto king Jehoiakim that slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the common people's grave.

But Ahikam the son of Shaphan helped Jeremiah, that he came not into the hands of the people to be slain.

and send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon: and that by the messengers, which shall come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah the king of Judah,

I am he that made the earth, the men, and the cattle that are upon the ground, with my great power and outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it pleased me.

Moreover, that people and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar, and that will not put their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, the same people will I visit with the sword, with hunger, and with pestilence, until I have consumed them in his hands, sayeth the LORD.

For they preach you lies, to bring you far from your land, and that I might cast you out, and destroy you.

But the people that put their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those I will let remain still in their own land, sayeth the LORD, and they shall occupy it, and dwell therein.'"

All these things told I Zedekiah the king of Judah, and said, "Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, that ye may live.

Why wilt thou and thy people perish with the sword, with hunger, with pestilence: like as the LORD hath devised for all people that will not serve the king of Babylon?

Therefore give no ear unto those Prophets that tell you, 'Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon.' 'For they preach you lies,

neither have I sent them, sayeth the LORD: howbeit they are bold, falsely for to prophesy in my name: that I might the sooner drive you out, and that ye might perish with your preachers.'"

I spake to the Priests also, and to all the people, "Thus sayeth the LORD: Hear not the words of those Prophets, that preach unto you, and say, 'Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall shortly be brought hither again from Babylon.' For they prophesy lies unto you.

Hear them not, but serve the king of Babylon, that ye may live. Wherefore will ye make this city to be destroyed?

But if they be true Prophets in very deed, and if the word of the LORD be committed unto them, then let them pray the LORD of Hosts that the remnant of the ornaments, which are in the house of the LORD, and remain yet in the house of the king of Judah and at Jerusalem, be not carried to Babylon also.

For thus hath the LORD of Hosts spoken concerning the pillars, the laver, the seat and the residue of the ornaments that yet remain in this city,

And this was done in the same year: even in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. But in the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth Month, it happened, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet of Gibeon, spake to me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, and said,

and after two years will I bring again into this place all the ornaments of the LORD's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon carried away from this place unto Babylon.

Yea, I will bring again Jechoniah the son of Jehoiakim the king of Judah himself, with all the prisoners of Judah that are carried unto Babylon even into this place, sayeth the LORD, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon."

Then the prophet Jeremiah gave answer unto the prophet Hananiah, before the priests and before all the people that were present in the house of the LORD.

And the prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen, the LORD do that, and grant the thing which thou hast prophesied: that he may bring again all the ornaments of the LORD's house, and restore all the prisoners from Babylon into this place.

Nevertheless, hearken thou also what I will say, that thou and all the people may hear.

The prophets that were before us in times past, which prophesied of war, or trouble, or pestilence -

either of peace, upon many nations and great kingdoms - were proved by this, if God had sent them in very deed: when the thing came to pass, which that prophet told before."

and with that said Hananiah, that all the people might hear, "Thus hath the LORD spoken: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, from the neck of all nations; yea, and that within this two years." And so the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

Now after that Hananiah the prophet had taken the chain from the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and broken it, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Jeremiah saying,

For thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: I will put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all this people, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, yea and so shall they do. And I will give him the beasts in the field.'"

This is the Copy of the letter, that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the prisoners: the Senators, priests, prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had led unto Babylon:

after the time that king Jechoniah, and his Queen, his chamberlains the princes of Judah and Jerusalem the workmasters of Jerusalem were departed thither.

"Thus hath the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, spoken unto all the prisoners, that were led from Jerusalem unto Babylon:

Build you houses to dwell therein; plant you gardens, that ye may enjoy the fruits thereof;

take you wives, to bear you sons and daughters; provide wives for your sons, and husbands for your daughters, that they may get sons and daughters, and that ye may multiply there. Labour not to be few,

"For thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Let not those prophets and soothsayers that be among you deceive you: and believe not your own dreams.

For I know what I have devised for you sayeth the LORD. My thoughts are to give you peace, and not trouble, which I give you already; and that ye might have hope again.

Ye shall seek me, and find me: Yea, if so be that ye seek me with your whole heart,

"But whereas ye say that God hath raised you up prophets at Babylon:

Thus hath the LORD spoken concerning the king that sitteth in the stool of David, and all the people that dwell in this city, your brethren that are not gone with you into captivity.

Thus, I say, speaketh the LORD of Hosts: Behold, I will send a sword, hunger and pestilence upon them, and will make them like untimely figs, that may not be eaten for bitterness.

and that because they have not been obedient unto my commandments, sayeth the LORD; which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets. I stood up early, and sent unto them, but they would not hear, sayeth the LORD.

Thus hath the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel spoken, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy lies unto you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, that he may slay them before your eyes.

And all the prisoners of Judah that are in Babylon, shall take upon them this term of cursing, and say, 'Now God do unto thee, as he did unto Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;

Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Because thou hast sealed letters under thy name unto all the people that is at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, yea and sent them to all the priests: wherein thou writest thus unto him:

'The LORD hath ordained thee to be priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, that thou shouldest be the chief in the house of the LORD above all prophets, and preachers, and that thou mightest put them in prison, or in the stocks.

How happeneth it then, that thou hast not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which never leaveth of his prophesying?

And beside all this, he hath sent us word unto Babylon, and told us plainly, that our captivity shall long endure: that we should build us houses to dwell therein, and to plant us gardens, that we might enjoy the fruit thereof.'

Send word to all them that be in captivity, on this manner: Thus hath the LORD spoken concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you without my commission, and brought you into a false hope,

therefore thus the LORD doth certify you: Behold, I will visit Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: so that none of his shall remain among this people, and none of them shall see the good, that I will do for this people, sayeth the LORD. For he hath preached falsely of the LORD."

These are the words that the LORD showed unto Jeremiah, saying,

"Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: Write up diligently all the words, that I have spoken unto thee, in a book.

For lo, the time cometh, sayeth the LORD, that I will bring again the prisoners of my people of Israel and Judah, sayeth the LORD: For I will restore them unto the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall have it in possession."

For what else doth this signify, that I see? Namely, that all strong men smite every man his hand upon his loins, as a woman in the pain of her travail. Who ever saw a man travail with child? Enquire thereafter, and see. Yea, all their faces are marvelous pale.

Alas for this day, which is so dreadful, that none may be likened unto it: and alas for the time of Jacob's trouble, from the which he shall yet be delivered.

For in that day, sayeth the LORD, I will take his yoke from off thy neck, and break thy bonds. They shall no more serve strange gods under him,

For I am with thee, to help thee, sayeth the LORD. And though I shall destroy all the people among whom I have scattered thee, yet will I not destroy thee, but correct thee, and that with discretion. For I know, that thou art in no wise without fault.

All thy lovers have forgotten thee, and care nothing for thee. For I have given thee a cruel stroke, and chastened thee roughly: and that for the multitude of thy misdeeds, for thy sins have had the overhand.

And therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured, and all thine enemies shall be led into captivity. All they that make thee waste, shall be wasted themselves: and all those that rob thee, will I make also to be robbed.

Their children shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall continue in my sight. And all those that vex them, will I visit.

A captain also shall come of them, and a prince shall spring out from the midst of them: him will I challenge to myself, and he shall come unto me. For what is he, that giveth over his heart to come unto me, sayeth the LORD?

I will repair thee again, O thou daughter of Israel, that thou mayest be fast and sure. Thou shalt take thy tabrets again, and go forth, with them that lead the dance.

Behold, I will bring them again from out of the north land, and gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and lame that are among them, with the women that be great with child, and such as be also delivered: and the company of them that come again, shall be great.

"Hear the word of the LORD, O ye Gentiles; preach in the Isles that lie far off, and say, 'He that hath scattered Israel, shall gather him together again, and shall keep him as a shepherd doth his flock.'

Yea, even thy posterity shall have consolation in this, sayeth the LORD, that thy children shall come again into their own land.

Moreover, I heard Ephraim, that was led away captive, complain on this manner, 'O LORD, thou hast corrected me, and thy chastening have I received, as an untamed calf. Convert thou me, and I shall be converted, for thou art my LORD God.

Upon this complaint, I thought thus by myself: Is not Ephraim my dear son? Is he not the child, with whom I have had all mirth and pastime? For since the time that I first communed with him, I have him ever in remembrance: therefore my very heart driveth me unto him; gladly and lovingly will I have mercy upon him, sayeth the LORD.

Get the watchman, provide teachers for thee: set thine heart upon the right way, that thou shouldest walk, and turn again, O thou daughter of Israel; turn again to these cities of thine.

For thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: It will come thereto, that when I have brought Judah out of captivity, these words shall be heard in the land and in his cities, 'The LORD, which is the fair bridegroom of righteousness, make thee fruitful O thou holy hill!'

"Behold, sayeth the LORD, the days come, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with men and with cattle.

Yea it shall come thereto, that like as I have gone about in times past to root them out, to scatter them, to break them down, to destroy them and chasten them: Even so will I also go diligently about, to build them up again, and to plant them, sayeth the LORD.

For every one shall die for his own misdeed, so that who so eateth a sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.

Behold, the days come, sayeth the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

not after the covenant that I made with their fathers, when I took them by the hand, and led them out of the land of Egypt: which covenant they brake, wherefore I punished them sore, sayeth the LORD:

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, sayeth the LORD: I will plant my law in the inward parts of them, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

"Thus sayeth the LORD which gave the sun to be a light for the day, and the moon and stars to shine in the night: which moveth the sea, so that the floods thereof wax fierce: his name is the LORD of Hosts.

Moreover, thus sayeth the LORD: like as the heaven above cannot be measured, and as the foundations of the earth beneath may not be sought out; So will I also not cast out the whole seed of Israel, for that they have committed, sayeth the LORD.

Behold, the days come, sayeth the LORD, that the city of the LORD shall be enlarged from the tower of Hananel, unto the gate of the corner wall.

And Zedekiah shall be carried unto Babylon, and there shall he be, until the time that I visit him, sayeth the LORD. But if thou takest in hand to fight against the Chaldeans, thou shalt not prosper."

'Behold, Hananel the son of Shallum thine Uncle's son shall come unto thee, and require thee to redeem the land, that lieth in Anathoth unto thyself: for by reason of kindred it is thy part to redeem it, and to buy it out.'

And so, Hananel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison, according to the word of the LORD - and said unto me, 'Buy my land, I pray thee, that lieth in Anathoth in the country of Benjamin: for by heritage thou hast right to loose it out for thyself; therefore redeem it.' Then I perceived, that this was the commandment of the LORD,

and I gave the evidence unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hananel my cousin, and in the presence of the witnesses that be named in the evidence, and before all the Jews that were thereby in the court of the prison.

'The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, commandeth thee to take this sealed evidence with the copy, and to lay it in an earthen vessel, that it may long continue.

For the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, hath determined that houses, fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.'

'O LORD God: It is thou that hast made heaven and earth with thy great power and high arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.

Thou showest mercy upon thousands, thou recompensest the wickedness of the fathers, into the bosom of the children that come after them. Thou art the great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD of Hosts:

and hast given them this land, like as thou hadst promised unto their fathers: Namely, that thou wouldest give them a land, that floweth with milk and honey.

Now when they came therein, and possessed it, they followed not thy voice, and walked not in thy law: but all that thou commandedst them to do, that have they not done. And therefore come all these plagues upon them.

Behold, there are bulwarks made now against the city, to take it: and it shall be won of the Chaldeans that besiege it with sword, with hunger and death. And look, what thou hast spoken, that same shall come upon them. For lo, all things are present unto thee:

Yet sayest thou unto me, O LORD God, and commandest me that I shall loose a piece of land unto myself, and take witness thereto: and yet in the mean season the city is delivered into the power of the Chaldeans.'

Or, what hath this city been else, but a provoking of my wrath, ever since the day that I builded it, unto this hour? Wherein I cast it out of my sight,

They would not hear, to be reformed and correct. They have set their gods in the house that is hallowed unto my name, to defile it.

And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me all the days of their life, that they and their children after them may prosper.