Jeremiah 30-38
English Standard Version
Restoration for Israel and Judah
30 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: (A)Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. 3 (B)For behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, (C)when I will restore (D)the fortunes of my people, (E)Israel and Judah, says the Lord, (F)and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.”
4 These are the words that the Lord spoke concerning (G)Israel and Judah:
5 “Thus says the Lord:
We have heard a cry of panic,
of terror, and no peace.
6 Ask now, and see,
can a man bear a child?
(H)Why then do I see every man
with his hands on his stomach (I)like a woman in labor?
(J)Why has every face turned pale?
7 Alas! (K)That day is so great
(L)there is none like it;
it is a time of distress for Jacob;
yet he shall be saved out of it.
8 “And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the Lord of hosts, that I will (M)break his (N)yoke from off your neck, and I will (O)burst your bonds, (P)and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him.[a] 9 But they shall serve the Lord their God and (Q)David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
10 (R)“Then fear not, (S)O Jacob my servant, declares the Lord,
nor be dismayed, O Israel;
for behold, (T)I will save you from far away,
(U)and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
(V)Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and none shall make him afraid.
11 (W)For I am with you to save you,
declares the Lord;
(X)I will make a full end of all the nations
among whom I scattered you,
but of you I will not make a full end.
(Y)I will (Z)discipline you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.
12 “For thus says the Lord:
(AA)Your hurt is incurable,
(AB)and your wound is grievous.
13 There is none to uphold your cause,
no medicine for your wound,
(AC)no healing for you.
14 (AD)All your lovers have forgotten you;
they care nothing for you;
for I have dealt you the blow of (AE)an enemy,
the punishment (AF)of a merciless foe,
because your guilt is great,
(AG)because your sins are flagrant.
15 (AH)Why do you cry out over your hurt?
(AI)Your pain is incurable.
Because your guilt is great,
(AJ)because your sins are flagrant,
I have done these things to you.
16 (AK)Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured,
and (AL)all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity;
(AM)those who plunder you shall be plundered,
(AN)and all who prey on you I will make a prey.
17 (AO)For I will restore (AP)health to you,
and (AQ)your wounds I will heal,
declares the Lord,
because (AR)they have called you an outcast:
(AS)‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’
18 “Thus says the Lord:
Behold, (AT)I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city shall be rebuilt on (AU)its mound,
and the palace shall stand where it used to be.
19 (AV)Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,
and the voices of those who celebrate.
(AW)I will multiply them, and they shall not be few;
I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.
20 (AX)Their children shall be as they were of old,
and their congregation shall be established before me,
and I will punish all who oppress them.
21 (AY)Their prince shall be one of themselves;
(AZ)their ruler shall come out from their midst;
(BA)I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me,
(BB)for who would dare of himself to approach me?
declares the Lord.
22 (BC)And you shall be my people,
and I will be your God.”
23 (BD)Behold (BE)the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
24 (BF)The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intentions of his mind.
(BG)In the latter days you will understand this.
The Lord Will Turn Mourning to Joy
31 (BH)“At that time, declares the Lord, (BI)I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”
2 Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
(BJ)when Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to him[b] from far away.
(BK)I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore (BL)I have continued (BM)my faithfulness to you.
4 (BN)Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
O virgin Israel!
(BO)Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
and shall go forth in (BP)the dance of the merrymakers.
5 (BQ)Again you shall plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
and shall enjoy the fruit.
6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
in (BR)the hill country of Ephraim:
(BS)‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord our God.’”
7 For thus says the Lord:
(BT)“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for (BU)the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
(BV)‘O Lord, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.’
8 Behold, I will bring them (BW)from the north country
and (BX)gather them from (BY)the farthest parts of the earth,
among them (BZ)the blind and the lame,
the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
a great company, they shall return here.
9 (CA)With weeping they shall come,
(CB)and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them (CC)walk by brooks of water,
(CD)in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for (CE)I am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is (CF)my firstborn.
10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will (CG)gather him,
and will keep him (CH)as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
11 (CI)For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
and has redeemed him from (CJ)hands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
(CK)and they shall be radiant (CL)over the goodness of the Lord,
(CM)over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
(CN)their life shall be like a watered garden,
(CO)and they shall languish no more.
13 (CP)Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
(CQ)I will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 (CR)I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the Lord.”
15 Thus says the Lord:
(CS)“A voice is heard in (CT)Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
(CU)Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
(CV)because they are no more.”
16 Thus says the Lord:
“Keep your voice from weeping,
and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,
declares the Lord,
and (CW)they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17 (CX)There is hope for your future,
declares the Lord,
and your children shall come back to their own country.
18 I have heard (CY)Ephraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
like an untrained calf;
(CZ)bring me back that I may be restored,
for you are the Lord my God.
19 For after (DA)I had turned away, I relented,
and after I was instructed, (DB)I struck my thigh;
(DC)I was ashamed, and I was confounded,
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20 (DD)Is Ephraim my dear son?
(DE)Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
I do remember him still.
(DF)Therefore my heart[c] yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the Lord.
21 (DG)“Set up road markers for yourself;
make yourself guideposts;
(DH)consider well the highway,
(DI)the road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
return to these your cities.
22 (DJ)How long will you waver,
(DK)O faithless daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
a woman encircles a man.”
23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, (DL)when I restore their fortunes:
24 (DP)And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and (DQ)the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will (DR)satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”
26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.
27 (DS)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when (DT)I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with (DU)the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass that (DV)as I have watched over them (DW)to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, (DX)so I will watch over them (DY)to build and to plant, declares the Lord. 29 In those days they shall no longer say:
(DZ)“‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children's teeth are set on edge.’
30 (EA)But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
The New Covenant
31 (EB)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make (EC)a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when (ED)I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, (EE)though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 (EF)For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: (EG)I will put my law within them, and I will write it (EH)on their hearts. (EI)And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ (EJ)for they shall all know me, (EK)from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For (EL)I will forgive their iniquity, and (EM)I will remember their sin no more.”
35 Thus says the Lord,
who (EN)gives the sun for light by day
and (EO)the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
(EP)the Lord of hosts is his name:
36 (EQ)“If this fixed order departs
from before me, declares the Lord,
then shall the offspring of Israel cease
from being a nation before me forever.”
37 Thus says the Lord:
“If the heavens above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,
(ER)then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel
for all that they have done,
declares the Lord.”
38 (ES)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord (ET)from the Tower of Hananel to (EU)the Corner Gate. 39 (EV)And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40 (EW)The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the (EX)brook Kidron, to the corner of (EY)the Horse Gate toward the east, (EZ)shall be sacred to the Lord. (FA)It shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”
Jeremiah Buys a Field During the Siege
32 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord (FB)in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, (FC)which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet (FD)was shut up in (FE)the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah. 3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: (FF)Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it; 4 (FG)Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, (FH)but shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye. 5 And (FI)he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the Lord. (FJ)Though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed’?”
6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, (FK)‘Buy my field that is at (FL)Anathoth, (FM)for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ 8 Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in (FN)the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at (FO)Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
9 “And I bought the field at (FP)Anathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and (FQ)weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 (FR)I signed the deed, (FS)sealed it, (FT)got witnesses, and (FU)weighed the money on scales. 11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. 12 And I gave the deed of purchase to (FV)Baruch the son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin, in the presence of (FW)the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in (FX)the court of the guard. 13 I charged (FY)Baruch in their presence, saying, 14 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and (FZ)fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.’
Jeremiah Prays for Understanding
16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to (GA)Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: 17 ‘Ah, Lord God! It is (GB)you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by (GC)your outstretched arm! (GD)Nothing is too hard for you. 18 (GE)You show steadfast love to thousands, (GF)but you repay the guilt of fathers (GG)to their children after them, O great and (GH)mighty God, whose name is the (GI)Lord of hosts, 19 (GJ)great in counsel and (GK)mighty in deed, (GL)whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, (GM)rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. 20 You have shown (GN)signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, (GO)and have made a name for yourself, as at this day. 21 (GP)You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and (GQ)outstretched arm, (GR)and with great terror. 22 And you gave them this land, (GS)which you swore to their fathers to give them, (GT)a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 And they entered and took possession of it. (GU)But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them. 24 Behold, (GV)the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and (GW)because of sword and famine and pestilence (GX)the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it. 25 Yet you, O Lord God, have said to me, (GY)“Buy the field for money (GZ)and get witnesses”—though (HA)the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’”
26 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 “Behold, I am the Lord, (HB)the God of all flesh. (HC)Is anything too hard for me? 28 Therefore, thus says the Lord: (HD)Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. 29 The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city (HE)shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, (HF)with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal (HG)and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, (HH)to provoke me to anger. 30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight (HI)from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but (HJ)provoke me to anger (HK)by the work of their hands, declares the Lord. 31 This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, (HL)so that I will remove it from my sight 32 because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—(HM)their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 (HN)They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them (HO)persistently, they have not listened (HP)to receive instruction. 34 They set up (HQ)their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 35 They built the high places of Baal (HR)in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, (HS)to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, (HT)though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do (HU)this abomination, (HV)to cause Judah to sin.
They Shall Be My People; I Will Be Their God
36 “Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, (HW)‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: 37 (HX)Behold, I will gather them from all the countries (HY)to which I drove them in (HZ)my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, (IA)and I will make them dwell in safety. 38 (IB)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 (IC)I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, (ID)for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 (IE)I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. (IF)And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41 (IG)I will rejoice in doing them good, (IH)and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.
42 “For thus says the Lord: (II)Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. 43 (IJ)Fields shall be bought in this land (IK)of which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; (IL)it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ 44 Fields shall be bought for money, and (IM)deeds shall be signed and (IN)sealed and (IO)witnessed, (IP)in the land of Benjamin, (IQ)in the places about Jerusalem, (IR)and in the cities of Judah, (IS)in the cities of the hill country, (IT)in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for (IU)I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord.”
The Lord Promises Peace
33 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still (IV)shut up in the court of the guard: 2 “Thus says (IW)the Lord who made the earth,[d] the Lord who formed it to establish it—(IX)the Lord is his name: 3 (IY)Call to me and I will answer you, (IZ)and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. 4 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against (JA)the siege mounds and against the sword: 5 They are coming in (JB)to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them[e] with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down (JC)in my anger and my wrath, (JD)for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil. 6 (JE)Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. 7 (JF)I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, (JG)and rebuild them as they were (JH)at first. 8 (JI)I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, (JJ)and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. 9 (JK)And this city[f] shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall (JL)fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.
10 “Thus says the Lord: In this place (JM)of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again 11 (JN)the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring (JO)thank offerings to the house of the Lord:
(JP)“‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts,
for the Lord is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!’
(JQ)For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.
12 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: (JR)In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be (JS)habitations of shepherds (JT)resting their flocks. 13 (JU)In the cities of the hill country, (JV)in the cities of the Shephelah, (JW)and in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, (JX)the places about Jerusalem, (JY)and in the cities of Judah, (JZ)flocks shall again pass under the hands (KA)of the one who counts them, says the Lord.
The Lord's Eternal Covenant with David
14 (KB)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when (KC)I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous (KD)Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, (KE)and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: (KF)‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
17 “For thus says the Lord: (KG)David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 (KH)and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.”
19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 (KI)“Thus says the Lord: (KJ)If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, (KK)so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, 21 (KL)then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. 22 As (KM)the host of heaven cannot be numbered and (KN)the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”
23 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 24 “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. 25 Thus says the Lord: (KO)If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, 26 then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (KP)For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”
Zedekiah to Die in Babylon
34 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when (KQ)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army (KR)and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all of its cities: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go and speak to (KS)Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: (KT)Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 3 (KU)You shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. (KV)You shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face. And you shall go to Babylon.’ 4 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! (KW)Thus says the Lord concerning you: (KX)‘You shall not die by the sword. 5 You shall die in peace. (KY)And as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so people shall (KZ)burn spices for you (LA)and lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!”’ For I have spoken the word, declares the Lord.”
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, (LB)Lachish and (LC)Azekah, (LD)for these were the only (LE)fortified cities of Judah that remained.
8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah (LF)had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem (LG)to make a proclamation of liberty to them, 9 (LH)that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, (LI)so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. 10 And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again. They obeyed and set them free. 11 But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves (LJ)they had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves. 12 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 13 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when (LK)I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, 14 (LL)‘At the end of seven years each of you must set free the fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years; (LM)you must set him free from your service.’ But (LN)your fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. 15 You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes (LO)by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and (LP)you made a covenant before me in the (LQ)house that is called by my name, 16 but then you turned around (LR)and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, (LS)whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.
17 “Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me (LT)by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; (LU)behold, I proclaim to you liberty (LV)to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. (LW)I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of (LX)the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like[g] (LY)the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, (LZ)the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20 And I will give them into the hand of their enemies (MA)and into the hand of those who seek their lives. (MB)Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. 21 And (MC)Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon (MD)which has withdrawn from you. 22 Behold, (ME)I will command, declares the Lord, and will (MF)bring them back to this city. (MG)And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. (MH)I will make the cities of Judah a desolation (MI)without inhabitant.”
The Obedience of the Rechabites
35 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of (MJ)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the (MK)Rechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of (ML)the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4 I brought them to the house of the Lord into (MM)the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, (MN)the man of God, which was near (MO)the chamber of the officials, above (MP)the chamber of (MQ)Maaseiah the son of Shallum, (MR)keeper of the threshold. 5 Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for (MS)Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7 You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, (MT)that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9 and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10 but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But (MU)when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of (MV)the army of the Chaldeans and (MW)the army of the Syrians.’ (MX)So we are living in Jerusalem.”
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, (MY)Will you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. 14 The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father's command. I have spoken to you (MZ)persistently, but you have not listened to me. 15 I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them (NA)persistently, saying, (NB)‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and (NC)do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ (ND)But you did not incline your ear or listen to me. 16 The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, (NE)because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, (NF)I have called to them and they have not answered.”
18 But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, 19 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man (NG)to stand before me.”
Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah's Scroll
36 In the (NH)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Take (NI)a scroll and (NJ)write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and (NK)Judah (NL)and all the nations, (NM)from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. 3 (NN)It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, (NO)so that every one may turn from his evil way, and (NP)that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
4 Then Jeremiah called (NQ)Baruch the son of Neriah, and (NR)Baruch wrote on (NS)a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him. 5 And Jeremiah ordered (NT)Baruch, saying, (NU)“I am banned from going to the house of the Lord, 6 so you are to go, and (NV)on a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the Lord's house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities. 7 (NW)It may be that their plea for mercy will come before the Lord, (NX)and that every one will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” 8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord's house.
9 (NY)In the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, (NZ)in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem (OA)proclaimed a fast before the Lord. 10 Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the Lord, in (OB)the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord's house.
11 When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, son of (OC)Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, 12 he went down to the king's house, into the secretary's chamber, and (OD)all the officials were sitting there: (OE)Elishama the secretary, (OF)Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, (OG)Elnathan (OH)the son of Achbor, (OI)Gemariah the son of (OJ)Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the officials. 13 And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. 14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, son of (OK)Shelemiah, son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Take in your hand the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. 15 And they said to him, “Sit down and read it.” So Baruch read it to them. 16 When they heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear. And they said to Baruch, (OL)“We must report all these words to the king.” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” 18 Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, (OM)while I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” 19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”
20 So they went into the court to the king, having put the scroll in (ON)the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words to the king. 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. 22 It was (OO)the ninth month, and the king was sitting in (OP)the winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. 23 As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. 24 Yet (OQ)neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, (OR)nor did they tear their garments. 25 Even when (OS)Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah (OT)urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the (OU)king's son and Seraiah the son of Azriel and (OV)Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize (OW)Baruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.
27 Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah's dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. 29 And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, You have burned this scroll, saying, (OX)“Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?” 30 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: (OY)He shall have none (OZ)to sit on the throne of David, (PA)and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. 31 (PB)And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.’”
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to (PC)Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who (PD)wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.
Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah
37 (PE)Zedekiah the son of Josiah, (PF)whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of (PG)Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. 2 (PH)But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.
3 King Zedekiah sent (PI)Jehucal the son of (PJ)Shelemiah, and (PK)Zephaniah the priest, the son of (PL)Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please (PM)pray for us to the Lord our God.” 4 (PN)Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, (PO)for he had not yet been put in prison. 5 (PP)The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when (PQ)the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, (PR)they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 “Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who (PS)sent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, (PT)Pharaoh's army that came to help you is about to (PU)return to Egypt, to its own land. 8 And (PV)the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. (PW)They shall capture it and burn it with fire. 9 Thus says the Lord, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. 10 (PX)For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and (PY)burn this city with fire.’”
Jeremiah Imprisoned
11 Now when (PZ)the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh's army, 12 Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to (QA)the land of Benjamin (QB)to receive his portion there (QC)among the people. 13 When he was at (QD)the Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of (QE)Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, (QF)“You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” 14 And Jeremiah said, “It is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to (QG)the officials. 15 And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him (QH)and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.
16 (QI)When Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days, 17 King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him (QJ)secretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, (QK)“You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” 18 Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, (QL)that you have put me in prison? 19 (QM)Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? 20 Now hear, please, O my lord the king: (QN)let my humble plea come before you and (QO)do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there.” 21 So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to (QP)the court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers' street, (QQ)until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in (QR)the court of the guard.
Jeremiah Cast into the Cistern
38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, (QS)Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and (QT)Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people: 2 “Thus says the Lord: (QU)He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, (QV)but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war, and live. 3 Thus says the Lord: (QW)This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and be taken.” 4 Then the officials said to the king, (QX)“Let this man be put to death, (QY)for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking (QZ)the welfare of this people, but their harm.” 5 King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, (RA)for the king can do nothing against you.” 6 So they took Jeremiah (RB)and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in (RC)the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down (RD)by ropes. (RE)And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and (RF)Jeremiah sank in the mud.
Jeremiah Rescued from the Cistern
7 When (RG)Ebed-melech (RH)the Ethiopian, (RI)a eunuch who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting (RJ)in the Benjamin Gate— 8 (RK)Ebed-melech went from the king's house and said to the king, 9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of (RL)hunger, (RM)for there is no bread left in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded (RN)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 So (RO)Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe in the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern (RP)by ropes. 12 Then (RQ)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and (RR)the ropes.” Jeremiah did so. 13 Then they drew Jeremiah up with (RS)ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the (RT)court of the guard.
Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah Again
14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the Lord. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me.” 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” 16 Then King Zedekiah swore (RU)secretly to Jeremiah, (RV)“As the Lord lives, (RW)who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of (RX)these men who seek your life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: (RY)If you will surrender to (RZ)the officials of the king of Babylon, (SA)then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18 But if you do not surrender to (SB)the officials of the king of Babylon, (SC)then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, (SD)and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.” 19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans (SE)who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me.” 20 Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the Lord in what I say to you, (SF)and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. 21 But if you refuse to (SG)surrender, this is the vision which the Lord has shown to me: 22 Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and were saying,
(SH)“‘Your trusted friends have deceived you
and prevailed against you;
now that your feet are sunk in the mud,
they turn away from you.’
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 30:8 Or serve him
- Jeremiah 31:3 Septuagint; Hebrew me
- Jeremiah 31:20 Hebrew bowels
- Jeremiah 33:2 Septuagint; Hebrew it
- Jeremiah 33:5 That is, the torn-down houses
- Jeremiah 33:9 Hebrew And it
- Jeremiah 34:18 Hebrew lacks them like
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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