Amplified Bible (AMP)

The Broken Jar

1 Thus says the Lord, “Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jar, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests

2 and go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), which is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I tell you,

3 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold (listen carefully), I am going to bring such disaster on this place that the ears of everyone who hears about it will tingle [in shock].

4 Because the people [of Jerusalem] have abandoned (rejected) Me and have made this an alienandprofaned place by burning sacrificesandincense in it to other gods, that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent

5 and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind (heart);

6 therefore, listen very closely, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when this place shall no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.

7 I will pour outandnullify the counsel (plans) of [the men of] Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will make their people fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their lives; and I will give their dead bodies as food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.

8 I will make this city a desolation and anobject ofhissing; everyone who passes by it will be amazed and will hiss [in scorn] because of all its plaguesanddisasters.

9 And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and each one will eat one another’s flesh during the siege and distress brought by their enemies and those who seek their lives.”’

10 “Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you,

11 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lordof hosts, “This is the way I will break this people and this city as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it cannot be mended. They will bury [corpses] in Topheth until there is no more room left [in that place] to bury [the dead].

12 This I will do to this place,” says the Lord, “and to its inhabitants; and I will even make this city like Topheth.

13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like this place, Topheth, all the houses on whose rooftops incense has been burned to all the host of heaven (sun, moon, stars), and where drink offerings have been poured out to other gods.”’”

14 Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lordhad sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the Lord’shouse and said to all the people:

15 “Thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to bring on this city and on all its towns, all the devastation that I have declared against it, because they have become stiff-necked and refused to hearandobey My words.’”

Pashhur Persecutes Jeremiah

1 Now Pashhur the son of Immer, the priest, who was [also] chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.

2 Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate by the house of the Lord.

3 And the next day Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The Lorddoes not call your name Pashhur, but Magor-missabib (terror on every side).

4 For thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; they will fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon; he will carry them away to Babylon as captives and will slaughter them with the sword.

5 ~‘Moreover, I will hand over all the riches of this city, all the result of its labor, all its precious things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will hand over to their enemies, and they will plunder them, and take them away and carry them to Babylon.

6 ~‘And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; you will go to Babylon, and there you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have falsely prophesied.’”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

7 [Jeremiah said,] O Lord, You have persuaded me and I was deceived;

You are stronger than I and You have prevailed.

I am a laughingstock all day long;

Everyone mocks me.

8 For whenever I speak, I must shout out;

I shout violence and destruction,

Because the word of the Lordhas become to me

A reprimand and a mockeryandhas brought me insult all day long.

9 If I say, “I will not remember Him

Or speak His name anymore,”

Then my heart becomes a burning fire

Shut up in my bones.

And I am weary of enduringandholding it in;

I cannot endure it [nor contain it any longer].

10 For I have heard the whisperinganddefaming words of many,

“Terror on every side!

Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”

All my familiarandtrusted friends,

[Those who are] watching for my fall, say,

“Perhaps he will be persuadedanddeceived; then we will overcome him,

And take our revenge on him.”

11 But the Lordis with me as a dread champion [one to be greatly feared];

Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not overcome [me].

They will be completely shamed, for they have not acted wiselyandhave failed [in their schemes];

Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.

12 But, O Lordof hosts, You who examine the righteous,

Who see the heart and the mind,

Let me see Your vengeance on them;

For to You I have committed my cause.

13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!

For He has rescued the life of the needy one

From the hand of evildoers.

14 Cursed be the day on which I was born;

Do not bless the day on which my mother gave birth to me!

15 Cursed be the man who brought the news

To my father, saying,

“A son has been born to you!”

Making him very glad.

16 And let that man be like the cities

Which the Lordoverthrew without regret.

Let him hear an outcry in the morning

And a shout of alarm at noon;

17 Because he did not kill me before my birth,

So that my mother might have been my grave,

And her womb always pregnant.

18 Why did I come out of the womb

To see trouble and sorrow,

So that my days have been filled with shame?

Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lordwhen King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the priest the son of Maaseiah, saying,

2 “Please inquire of the Lordfor us, becauseNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lordwill deal [favorably] with us according to all His wonderful works and force him to withdraw from us.”

3 Then Jeremiah said to them, “Say this to Zedekiah:

4 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Behold, I will turn backanddull the edge of the weapons of war that are in your hands, [those] with which you fight against the king of Babylon and theChaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls; and I will bring them into the center of this city (Jerusalem).

5 I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm in anger, in fury, and in great indignationandwrath.

6 I will also strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great virulent disease.

7 Then afterward,” says the Lord, “I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the virulent disease, the sword, and the famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemy, into the hand of those who seek their lives. And he will strike them with the edge of the sword; he will not spare them nor have mercy and compassion on them.”’

8 “And to this people you (Jeremiah) shall also say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

9 He who remains in this city [of Jerusalem] will die by the sword and by famine and by virulent disease. But he who goes outside and surrenders to theChaldeans who are besieging you will live, and his life will be like a prize of war to him.

10 For I have set My face against this city to do harm and not good,” says the Lord. “It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire.”’

11 “And concerning the royal house of the king of Judah [you shall say], ‘Hear the word of the Lord,

12 O house of David, thus says the Lord:

“Administer justice in the morning,

And rescue the one who has been robbed from the hand of his oppressor,

That My wrath will not roar up like fire

And burn so [hotly] that none can extinguish it,

Because of the evil of their deeds.

13 “Understand this, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,

O rock of the plain,” says the Lord–

“You who say, ‘Who will come down against us?

Or who will enter into our dwelling places?’

14 “But I will punish you in accordance with the [appropriate] consequences of your decisionsandyour actions,” says the Lord.

“I will kindle a fire in your forest,

And it will devour all that is around you.”’”

Warning of Jerusalem’s Fall

1 Thus says the Lord, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak this word there:

2 ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David–you and your servants and your people who enter by these gates.

3 ~‘Thus says the Lord, “Execute justice and righteousness, and rescue the one who has been robbed from the hand of his oppressor. And do no wrong; do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

4 For if you will indeed obey this word, then kings will enter through the gates of this palace, sitting in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses,even the kinghimself and his servants and his people.

5 But if you will not hearandobey these words, I swear [an oath] by Myself,” says the Lord, “that this house will become a desolation.”’”

6 For thus says the Lordin regard to the house of the king of Judah:

“You are [as valuable] to Me as [the green pastures of] Gilead [east of the Jordan]

Or as the [plentiful] summit of Lebanon [west of the Jordan],

Yet most certainly [if you will not listen to Me] I will make you a wilderness,

And uninhabited cities.

7 “For I will prepareandappoint destroyers [to execute My judgments] against you,

Each with his weapons;

And they will cut down your [palaces built of] choicest cedars

And throw them in the fire.

8 “Many nations will pass by this city; and each man will say to another, ‘Why has the Lorddone this to this great city?’

9 Then they will answer, ‘Because the people ignoredandabandoned the [solemn] covenant with the Lordtheir God and worshiped other gods and served them.’”

10 Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him;

But weep bitterly for the one who goes away [into exile],

For he will never return

And see his native country [again].

11 For thus says the Lordin regard to Shallum (Jehoahaz) the [third] son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father and who went from this place, “Shallum will not return here anymore;

12 he will die in the place where they led him captive and not see this land again.

Messages about the Kings

13 “Woe (judgment is coming) to him who builds his house by [acts of] unrighteousness

And his upper chambers by injustice,

Who uses his neighbor’s service without pay

And does not give him wages [for his work],

14 Who says, ‘I will build myself a spacious house

With large upper rooms,

And cut out its [wide] windows,

And panel it with cedar and paint it vermilion.’

15 “Do you think that you become a king because you have much more cedar [in your palace than Solomon]?

Did not your father [Josiah], as he ate and drank,

Do just and righteous acts [being upright and in right standing with God]?

Then all was well with him.

16 “He defended the cause of the afflicted and needy;

Then all was well.

Is that not what it means to know Me?”

Says the Lord.

17 “But your eyes and your heart

Are only intent on your own dishonest gain,

On shedding innocent blood,

On oppression and extortionandviolence.”

18 Therefore thus says the Lordin regard toJehoiakim the [second] son of Josiah, king of Judah,

“The relatives will not lament (mourn over with expressions of grief) for him:

‘Alas, my brother!’ or, ‘Alas, sister,’ [how great our loss]!

The subjects will not lament for him:

‘Alas, master!’ or ‘Alas, majesty [how great was his glory]!’

19 “He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey–

Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

20 “Go up [north] to Lebanon and cry out,

And raise your voice in [the hills of] Bashan [across the Jordan];

Cry out also fromAbarim,

For all your lovers (allies) have been destroyed.

21 “I spoke to you in your [times of] prosperity,

But you said, ‘I will not listen!’

This has been your attitudeandpractice from your youth;

You have not obeyed My voice.

22 “The wind [of adversity] will carry away all your shepherds (rulers, statesmen),

And your lovers (allies) will go into exile.

Surely then you will be ashamed and humiliatedanddisgraced

Because of all your wickedness.

23 “O inhabitant of [Jerusalem, whose palaces are made from the cedars of] Lebanon,

You who nest in the cedars,

How you will groanandhow miserable you will be when pains come on you,

Pain like a woman in childbirth!

24 “As I live,” says the Lord, “thoughConiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet [ring] on My right hand, yet would I pull you (Coniah) off.

25 And I will place you in the hand of those who seek your life and in the hand of those whom you fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of theChaldeans.

26 I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country where you were not born, and there you will die.

27 But as for the land to which they long to return, they will not return to it.

28 “Is this man [King] Coniah a despised, broken jar?

Is he a vessel in which no one takes pleasure?

Why are he and his [royal] descendants hurled out

And cast into a land which they do not knoworunderstand?

29 “O land, land, land,

Hear the word of the Lord!

30 Thus says the Lord,

‘Write this man [Coniah] down as childless,

A man who will not prosper (succeed) in his lifetime;

For not one of his descendants will succeed

In sitting on the throne of David

Or ruling again in Judah.’”

The Coming Messiah: the Righteous Branch

1 “Woe to the shepherds (civil leaders, rulers) who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord.

2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, in regard to the shepherds who care forandfeed My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; hear this, I am about to visitandattend to you for the evil of your deeds,” says the Lord.

3 “Then I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries to which I have driven them and bring them back to their foldsandpastures; and they will be fruitful and multiply.

4 I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them. And they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” says the Lord.

5 “Behold (listen closely), the days are coming,” says the Lord,

“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;

And He will reign as King and act wisely

And will do [those things that accomplish] justice and righteousness in the land.

6 “In His days Judah will be saved,

And Israel will dwell safely;

Now this is His name by which He will be called;

‘The LordOur Righteousness.’

7 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lordlives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’

8 but [they will say], ‘As the Lordlives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries to which I had driven them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

False Prophets Denounced

9 Concerning the prophets:

My heart [says Jeremiah] is broken within me,

All my bones shake;

I have become like a drunken man,

A man whom wine has overcome,

Because of the Lord

And because of His holy words [declared against unfaithful leaders].

10 For the land is full of adulterers (unfaithful to God);

The land mourns because of the curse [of God upon it].

The pastures of the wilderness have dried up.

The course of action [of the false prophets] is evilandthey rush into wickedness;

And their power is not right.

11 “For both [false] prophet and priest are ungodly (profane, polluted);

Even in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the Lord.

12 “Therefore their way will be to them like slippery paths

In the dark; they will be pushed and fall into them;

For I will bring disaster on them,

In the year of their punishment,” says the Lord.

13 “And I have seen a foolishandan offensive thing in the prophets of Samaria:

They prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to go astray.

14 “Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem:

They commit adultery and walk in lies;

They encourageandstrengthen the hands of evildoers,

So that no one has turned back from his wickedness.

All of them have become like Sodom to Me,

And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.

15 Therefore thus says the Lordof hosts in regard to the prophets,

‘Behold, I am going to feed them [the bitterness of] wormwood

And make them drink the poisonous water [of gall],

For from the [counterfeit] prophets of Jerusalem

Profanenessandungodliness have spread into all the land.’”

16 Thus says the Lordof hosts,

“Do not listen to the words of the [false] prophets who prophesy to you.

They are teaching you worthless thingsandare leading you into futility;

They speak a vision of their own mindandimagination

And not [truth] from the mouth of the Lord.

17 “They are continually saying to those who despise Me [and My word],

‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”’;

And they say to everyone who walks after the stubbornness of his own heart,

‘No evil will come on you.’

18 “But who [among them] has stood in the council of the Lord,

That he would perceive and hear His word?

Who has marked His word [noticing and observing and paying attention to it] and has [actually] heard it?

19 “Behold, the tempest of the Lordhas gone forth in wrath,

A whirling tempest;

It will whirlandburst on the heads of the wicked.

20 “The anger of the Lordwill not turn back

Until He has set in motion and accomplished the thoughtsandintentions of His heart;

In the last days you will clearly understand it.

21 “I did not send [these counterfeit] prophets,

Yet they ran;

I did not speak to them,

Yet they prophesied.

22 “But if they had stood in My council,

Then they would have caused My people to hear My words,

Then they would have turned My people from their evil way

And from the evil of their decisionsanddeeds.

23 “Am I a God who is at hand,” says the Lord,

“And not a God far away?”

24 “Can anyone hide himself in secret places

So that I cannot see him?” says the Lord.

“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.

25 “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My Name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed [visions when on my bed at night].’

26 How long [shall this state of affairs continue]? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart,

27 who think that they can make My people forget My Name by their [contrived] dreams which each one tells another, just as their fathers forgot My Name because of Baal?

28 The prophet who has a dream may tell his dream; but he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat [for nourishment]?” says the Lord.

29 “Is not My word like fire [that consumes all that cannot endure the test]?” says the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks the [most stubborn] rock [in pieces]?

30 Therefore behold (hear this), I am against the [counterfeit] prophets,” says the Lord, “[I am descending on them with punishment, these prophets] who steal My words from one another [imitating the words of the true prophets].

31 Hear this, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who use their [own deceitful] tongues and say, ‘Thus saysthe Lord.’

32 Hear this, I am against those who have prophesied falseandmade-up dreams,” says the Lord, “and have told them and have made My people errandgo astray by their lies and by their reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them nor do they benefitandenhance [the life of] these people in the slightest way,” says the Lord.

33 “Now when this people or a prophet or a priest asks you [in jest], ‘What is theoracle of the Lord[the burden to be lifted up and carried]?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘What oracle [besides the one that declares you people to be the burden]!’ The Lordsays, ‘I will unburden MyselfandI will abandon you.’

34 And as for the prophet, the priest, or [any of] the people, whoever says, ‘The oracle of the Lord,’ [as if he knows God’s will], I will punish that man and his household.

35 [For the future, in speaking of the words of the Lord] thus each of you shall say to his neighbor and to his brother, ‘What has the Lordanswered?’ or, ‘What has the Lordspoken?’

36 For you will no longer remember the oracle of the Lord, because every man’s own word will become the oracle, [for as they mockingly call all prophecies oracles, whether good or bad, so will it prove to be to them; God will take them at their own word]; and you have perverted the words [not of a lifeless idol, but] of the living God, the Lordof hosts, our God.

37 Thus you will [reverently] say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lordanswered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lordspoken?’

38 For if you say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’ surely thus says the Lord, ‘Because you said this word, “The oracle of the Lord!” when I have also sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The oracle of the Lord!’”’

39 Therefore behold, I, even I, will assuredly forget you and send you away from My presence, you and the city (Jerusalem) which I gave to you and to your fathers.

40 And I will bring an everlasting disgrace on you and a perpetual humiliation (shame) which will not be forgotten.”

Baskets of Figs and the Returnees

1 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken Jeconiah [who was also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah [along] with the craftsmen and smiths into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, the Lordshowed me [in a vision] two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord.

2 One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are the first to ripen; but the other basket had very bad figs, so rotten that they could not be eaten.

3 Then the Lordsaid to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the badfigs,very bad, so rotten that they cannot be eaten.”

4 Again the word of the Lordcame to me, saying,

5 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent from this place into the land of the Chaldeans.

6 ~‘For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them up and not overwhelm them, and I will plant them and not uproot them.

7 ~‘I will give them a heart to know Me, [understanding fully] that I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.

8 ‘And as for the bad figs, which are so rotten that they cannot be eaten,’ surely thus says the Lord, ‘so I will abandon Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and those who live in the land of Egypt.

9 ~‘I will make them a focus of ridiculeanddisappointment [tossed back and forth] among all the kingdoms of the earth, a [notorious] disgrace, a byword, a taunt and a curse in all places where I will scatter them.

10 ~‘I will send the sword, famine and virulent disease among them until they are consumed from the land which I gave to them and to their fathers.’”

Prophecy of the Captivity

1 The word that came to Jeremiah in regard to all the people of Judah in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),

2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,

3 “For these twenty-three years–from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day–the word of the Lordhas come to me and I have spoken to you over and over again, but you have not listened.

4 Although the Lordhas persistently sent to you all His servants the prophets, you have not listened nor [even] inclined your ear to hear [His message],

5 saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way and the evil of your actions [that you may not forfeit the right to] live in the land that the Lordhas given to you and your forefathers forever and ever;

6 and do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no harm.’

7 Yet you have not listened to Me,” says the Lord, “so that you have provoked Me to anger with the work (idols) of your hands to your own harm.

8 “Therefore thus says the Lordof hosts, ‘Because you have not obeyed My words,

9 behold (hear this), I will send for all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘andI will sendfor Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant [to enact My plan], and I will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing [that is, an object of warning and ridicule] and an everlasting desolation.

10 ~‘Moreover, I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones [grinding meal] and the light of the lamp [to light the night].

11 ~‘This whole land will be a waste and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylonseventy years.

Babylon Will Be Judged

12 ‘Then when seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia),’ says the Lord, ‘for their wickedness, and will make the land [of the Chaldeans] a perpetual waste.

13 ~‘I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.

14 ~‘(For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even the Chaldeans [who enslaved other nations]; and I will repay [all of] them according to their deeds and according to the work of their [own] hands.)’”

15 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.

16 They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”

17 Then I (Jeremiah) took the cup from the Lord’shand and made all the nations to whom the Lordhad sent me drink it:

18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah [being most guilty because their privileges were greatest], its kings and princes, to make them a horror, a ruin, a hissing and a curse, as it is to this day;

19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, all his people,

20 and all the foreign (mixed) population, all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (and [their cities of] Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod);

21 Edom, Moab, and the children of Ammon;

22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the islandsandthe coastlands across the [Mediterranean] Sea;

23 Dedan, Tema, Buz [the neighboring tribes north of Arabia], and all who clip off the side-growthof their hair;

24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign population who live in the desert;

25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam (Persia), and all the kings of Media;

26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another–and all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth. And the king of Sheshach (Babylon) shall drink after them.

27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel, “Drink, be drunk, vomit, and fall to rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you.”’

28 And if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lordof hosts, “You shall surely drink!

29 For behold, I am beginning to work disaster in the city which is called by My Name, and shall you go unpunished? You will not be exempt from punishment, for I am calling for a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” says the Lordof hosts.’

30 “Therefore prophesy all these words against them and say to them:

‘The Lordwill roar from on high

And utter His voice from His holy dwelling;

He will roar mightily against His foldandpasture.

He will jubilantly shout like those who treadthe grapes[in the wine press],

Against all the inhabitants of the earth.

31 ‘A noise has come to the end of the earth,

For the Lordhas a controversy withandan indictment against the nations.

He is entering into judgment with all mankind;

As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ says the Lord.”

32 Thus says the Lordof hosts,

“Behold, evil is going forth

From nation to nation,

And a great whirling tempest is rising

From the remotest part of the earth.

33 “And those slain by the Lordon that day will be from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. They will not be lamented (mourned over with expressions of grief) or gathered or buried; they will be like dung on the ground.

34 “Wail, you shepherds, and cry;

And roll in ashes, you masters of the flock.

For the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions have come in full,

And you will fallandbe broken into pieces like a choice vessel.

35 “The shepherds will have no way to flee,

Nor the masters of the flock any [way of] escape.

36 “A voice! The cry of the shepherds

And the wailing of the masters of the flock!

For the Lordis destroying their pasture,

37 “And the peaceful folds are devastatedandmade silent

Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.

38 “He has left His lair like the lion;

For their land has become a horror

Because of the fierceness of the oppressor

And because of the Lord’sfierce anger.”

Cities of Judah Warned

1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying,

2 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand in the court of the Lord’shouse [Jeremiah], and speak to all [the people of] the cities of Judah who have come to worship in the Lord’shouse all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not omit a word!

3 ~‘It may be that they will listen and everyone will turn from his wickedness, so that I may relentandreverse [My decision concerning] the disaster which I am planning to do to them because of their malevolent deeds.’

4 And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “If you will not listen to Me and obey My law which I have set before you,

5 and listenandfollow [carefully] the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you repeatedly–though you have not listened–

6 then I will make this house [the temple] likeShiloh, and I will make this city [subject to] the curse of all nations of the earth [because it will be so vile in their sight].”’”

A Plot to Murder Jeremiah

7 The priests and the [false] prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord.

8 Now when Jeremiah finished proclaiming everything that the Lordhad commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the [false] prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You must die!

9 Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lordsaying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh [after the ark of the Lordhad been taken by our enemies] and this city [Jerusalem] will be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered around Jeremiah in the [outer area of the] house of the Lord.

10 When theprinces (court officials) of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lordand sat in the entrance of the New Gate of the house of the Lord.

11 Then the priests and the [false] prophets said to the princes and to all the people, “This man is deserving of death, for he has prophesied against this city as you have heard with your own ears.”

12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and to all the people, saying, “The Lordsent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.

13 Therefore, now change your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the Lordyour God; then the Lordwill relentandreverse His decision concerning the misfortune which He has pronounced against you.

14 As for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as seems good and suitable to you.

15 But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on its inhabitants, for in truth the Lordhas sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

Jeremiah Is Spared

16 Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and to the [false] prophets, “This man is not deserving of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lordour God.”

17 Then some of the elders of the land stood up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,

18 “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lordof hosts,

“Zion will beplowed like a field,

And Jerusalem will become [heaps of] ruins,

And the mountain of the house [of the Lord–Mount Moriah, on which stands the temple, shall become covered not with buildings, but] like a densely wooded height.”’

19 “Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put Micah to death? Did he not [reverently] fear the Lordand entreat the favor of the Lord? And did not the Lordrelentandreverse His decision concerning the misfortune which He had pronounced against them? But [here] we are [thinking of] committing a great evil against ourselves.”

20 And there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath-jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land in words similar to all those of Jeremiah.

21 And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put Uriah to death; but when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt.

22 Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain [other] men with him [went] to Egypt.

23 And they brought Uriah [God’s spokesman] from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who executed him with a sword and threw his dead body among the graves of the common people.

24 But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was not given into the hands of the people to put him to death.

The Nations to Submit to Nebuchadnezzar

1 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

2 Thus says the Lordto me, “Make for yourself bonds and yokes and put them on your neck,

3 and send word to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the sons of Ammon, to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon by the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

4 Command them to go to their masters, saying, ‘Thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel, you shall say this to your masters:

5 “I have made the earth, the men and the animals that are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to whomever pleases Me.

6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servantandinstrument, and I have also given the wild animals of the field to serve him.

7 All nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the [appointed] time [of punishment] for his own land comes; then many nations and great kings shall make him their servant.

8 “But any nation or kingdom that will not serve this same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,” says the Lord, “with the sword, with famine and with pestilence (virulent disease), until I have destroyed it by Nebuchadnezzar’s hand.

9 And as for you, do not listen to your [counterfeit] prophets, your diviners, your dreamsanddreamers, your soothsayers or your sorcerers, who say to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’

10 For they prophesy a lie to you which will cause you to be removed far from your land; and I will drive you out and you will perish.

11 But the nation which will bow its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, that nation I will let remain on its own land,” says the Lord, “to cultivate it and live in it.”’”

12 I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah in the same way, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live!

13 Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by famine and by virulent disease, as the Lordhas spoken to any nation which will not serve the king of Babylon?

14 Do not listen toandbelieve the words of the [false] prophets who are saying to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a lie to you;

15 for I have not sent them,” says the Lord, “but they are prophesying falsely in My Name, in order that I may drive you out and that you may perish, you [together] with the [false] prophets who prophesy to you.”

16 Then I said to the priests and to all these people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your [false] prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ‘Behold, the articles of the Lord’shouse will now shortly be broughtback from Babylon’; for they are prophesying a lie to you.

17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city become a ruin?

18 But if they are [true] prophets, and if the word of the Lordis [really spoken] by them, let them now entreat the Lordof hosts that the articles which are [still] left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon.

19 For thus says the Lordof hosts concerning the [bronze]pillars, the [bronze]Sea, the [bronze] bases [of the ten basins in Solomon’s temple used for washing sacrificial animals], and the rest of the articles that are left in this city (Jerusalem),

20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carriedJeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.

21 Yes, thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the articles which remain in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem,

22 ‘They will becarried to Babylon and they will be there until the day that I visit them [with My favor],’ says the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’”

Hananiah’s False Prophecy

1 In the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year and the fifth month, the [false] prophet Hananiah the son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon [one of the priests’ cities], spoke [without godly authority] to me in the house of the Lordin the presence of the priests and all the people, saying:

2 “Thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel, ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

3 ~‘Within two years I am going to bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’shouse, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon.

4 ~‘And I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, along with all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ says the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who stood in the house of the Lord,

6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lorddo so; may the Lordconfirmandfulfill your words which you have prophesied to bring back the articles of the Lord’shouse and all the captives, from Babylon to this place.

7 Nevertheless, listen now to this word which I am about to speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people!

8 The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of disaster and of virulent disease.

9 But as for the prophet who [on the contrary] prophesies of peace, when that prophet’s word comes to pass, [only] then will it be known that the Lordhas truly sent him.”

10 Then Hananiah the [false] prophet took the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and smashed it.

11 Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Even so within two full years I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’” Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

12 The word of the Lordcame to Jeremiah [some time] after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

13 “Go and tell Hananiah, ‘The Lordsays this, “You have broken yokes of wood, but you have made in their place bars of iron.”

14 ~‘For thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel, “I have put the iron yoke [of servitude] on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they will serve him. And I have even given him the beasts of the field.”’”

15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen now, Hananiah, the Lordhas not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.

16 Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am about to send you away from the face of the earth. This year you will die, because you have spokenandcounseled rebellion against the Lord.’”

17 So Hananiah the [false] prophet died [two months later], the same year, in the seventh month.