Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "Don't let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you, and don't listen to the dreams you elicit from them, for they are prophesying falsely to you in My name. I have not sent them." [This is] the Lord's declaration.

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.' " But the Lord said to me, "These prophets are prophesying a lie in My name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, worthless divination, the deceit of their own minds. "Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, though I did not send them, and who say: There will never be sword or famine in this land: By sword and famine these prophets will meet their end.

Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the Lord, because of His holy words. For the land is full of adulterers; the land mourns because of the curse, and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up. Their way of life has become evil, and their power is not rightly used because both prophet and priest are ungodly, even in My house I have found their evil. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. read more.
Therefore, their way will be to them like slippery paths in the gloom. They will be driven away and fall down there, for I will bring disaster on them, the year of their punishment. [This is] the Lord's declaration. Among the prophets of Samaria I saw something disgusting: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray. Among the prophets of Jerusalem also I saw a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, and none turns his back on evil. They are all like Sodom to Me; Jerusalem's residents are like Gomorrah. Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says concerning the prophets: I am about to feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land. This is what the Lord of Hosts says: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are making you worthless. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the Lord's mouth. They keep on saying to those who despise Me: The Lord has said: You will have peace. To everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his heart they have said, No harm will come to you." 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? Look, a storm from the Lord! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling storm. It will whirl about the head of the wicked. The Lord's anger will not turn back until He has completely fulfilled the purposes of His heart. In time to come you will understand it clearly. I did not send these prophets, yet they ran [with a message]. I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. If they had really stood in My council, they would have enabled My people to hear My words and would have turned them back from their evil ways and their evil deeds. "Am I a God who is only near"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"and not a God who is far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places where I cannot see him?"-the Lord's declaration. "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?"-the Lord's declaration. "I have heard what the prophets who prophesy a lie in My name have said: I had a dream! I had a dream! How long will this continue in the minds of the prophets prophesying lies, prophets of the deceit of their own minds? Through their dreams that they tell one another, they make plans to cause My people to forget My name as their fathers forgot My name through Baal worship. The prophet who has [only] a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has My word should speak My word truthfully, for what is straw [compared] to grain?"-the Lord's declaration. "Is not My word like fire"-the Lord's declaration-"and like a sledgehammer that pulverizes rock? Therefore, take note! I am against the prophets"-the Lord's declaration-"who steal My words from each other. I am against the prophets"-the Lord's declaration-"who use their own tongues to deliver an oracle. I am against those who prophesy false dreams"-the Lord's declaration-"telling them and leading My people astray with their falsehoods and their boasting. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people"-[this is] the Lord's declaration.

In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur from Gibeon said to me in the temple of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people, "This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles of the Lord's temple that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from here and transported to Babylon. read more.
And I will restore to this place Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon'-[this is] the Lord's declaration-'for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.' " The prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the temple of the Lord. The prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen! May the Lord do so. May the Lord make the words you have prophesied come true and may He restore the articles of the Lord's temple and all the exiles from Babylon to this place! Only listen to this message I am speaking in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, disaster, and plague against many lands and great kingdoms. As for the prophet who prophesies peace-only when the word of the prophet comes true will the prophet be recognized as one whom the Lord has truly sent." The prophet Hananiah then took the yoke bar from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. In the presence of all the people Hananiah proclaimed, "This is what the Lord says: 'In this way, within two years I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from the neck of all the nations.' " Jeremiah the prophet then went on his way. The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke bar from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet: "Go say to Hananiah: This is what the Lord says: You broke a wooden yoke bar, but in its place you will make an iron yoke bar. For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations that they might serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have also put the wild animals under him." The prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, "Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you, but you have led these people to trust in a lie.

This is what the Lord God says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord. read more.
They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim: [This is] the Lord's declaration, when the Lord did not send them, yet they wait for the fulfillment of [their] message.


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.

Our holy and beautiful temple,
where our fathers praised You,
has been burned with fire,
and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.

A psalm of Asaph.God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance,
desecrated Your holy temple,
and turned Jerusalem into ruins.

How the gold has become tarnished,
the fine gold become dull!
The stones of the temple lie scattered
at the corner of every street.

Also Nebuchadnezzar took some of the utensils of the Lord’s temple to Babylon and put them in his temple in Babylon.

King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the house of his gods.

Then the Chaldeans burned God’s temple. They tore down Jerusalem’s wall, burned down all its palaces, and destroyed all its valuable articles.

ז ZayinThe Lord has rejected His altar,
repudiated His sanctuary;
He has handed the walls of her palaces
over to the enemy.
They have raised a shout in the house of the Lord
as on the day of an appointed festival.

He burned the Lord's temple, the king's palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem; he burned down all the great houses. The whole Chaldean army [with] the commander of the guards tore down the walls surrounding Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, deported the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population. read more.
But the commander of the guards left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers. Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars of the Lord's temple, the water carts, and the bronze reservoir, which were in the Lord's temple, and carried the bronze to Babylon. They also took the pots, the shovels, the wick trimmers, the dishes, and all the bronze articles used in [temple] service. The commander of the guards took away the firepans and the sprinkling basins-whatever was gold or silver. As for the two pillars, the one reservoir, and the water carts that Solomon had made for the Lord's temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. One pillar was 27 feet tall and had a bronze capital on top of it. The capital, encircled by a grating and pomegranates of bronze, stood five feet high. The second pillar was the same, with its own grating.

Then I spoke to the priests and all these people, saying, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets. They are prophesying to you, claiming, “Look, very soon now the articles of the Lord’s temple will be brought back from Babylon.” They are prophesying a lie to you.

For this is what the Lord of Hosts says about the pillars, the sea, the water carts, and the rest of the articles that still remain in this city, those Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he deported Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. Yes, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about the articles that remain in the temple of the Lord, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: read more.
'They will be brought to Babylon and will remain there until I attend to them again.' [This is] the Lord's declaration. 'Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.' "

Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles of the Lord’s temple that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from here and transported to Babylon.

He burned the Lord’s temple, the king’s palace, all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the nobles.

Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars for the Lord's temple and the water carts and the bronze reservoir that were in the Lord's temple, and carried all the bronze to Babylon. They took the pots, the shovels, the wick trimmers, the sprinkling basins, the dishes, and all the bronze articles used in [temple] service. The commander of the guards took away the bowls, the firepans, the sprinkling basins, the pots, the lampstands, the pans, and the drink offering bowls-whatever was gold or silver. read more.
As for the two pillars, the one reservoir, and the 12 bronze bulls under the water carts that King Solomon had made for the Lord's temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. One pillar was 27 feet tall, had a circumference of 18 feet, was hollow-four fingers thick- and had a bronze capital on top of it. One capital, encircled by bronze latticework and pomegranates, stood seven and a half feet high. The second pillar was the same, with pomegranates. [Each capital had] 96 pomegranates all around it. All the pomegranates around the latticework numbered 100.