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Jeremiah 18-22
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jeremiah 18-22
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Potter and the Clay
18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.”(A) 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.(B) 7 At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it.(C) 9 And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it,(D) 10 but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it.(E) 11 Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you, from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.(F)
Israel’s Stubborn Idolatry
12 But they say, “It is no use! We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of our evil will.”(G)
13 Therefore thus says the Lord:
Ask among the nations:
Who has heard the like of this?
The virgin Israel has done
a most horrible thing.(H)
14 Does the snow of Lebanon leave
the crags of Sirion?[a]
Do the mountain[b] waters run dry,[c]
the cold flowing streams?
15 But my people have forgotten me;
they burn offerings to a delusion;
they have stumbled[d] in their ways,
in the ancient roads,
and have gone into bypaths,
not the highway,(I)
16 making their land a horror,
a thing to be hissed at forever.
All who pass by it are horrified
and shake their heads.(J)
17 Like the wind from the east,
I will scatter them before the enemy.
I will show them my back, not my face,
in the day of their calamity.(K)
A Plot against Jeremiah
18 Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for instruction shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us bring charges against him,[e] and let us not heed any of his words.”(L)
19 Give heed to me, O Lord,
and listen to what my adversaries say!
20 Is evil a recompense for good?
Yet they have dug a pit for my life.
Remember how I stood before you
to speak good for them,
to turn away your wrath from them.(M)
21 Therefore give their children over to famine;
hurl them out to the power of the sword;
let their wives become childless and widowed.
May their men meet death by pestilence,
their youths be slain by the sword in battle.(N)
22 May a cry be heard from their houses
when you bring the marauder suddenly upon them!
For they have dug a pit to catch me
and laid snares for my feet.(O)
23 Yet you, O Lord, know
all their plotting to kill me.
Do not forgive their iniquity;
do not blot out their sin from your sight.
Let them be tripped up before you;
deal with them while you are angry.(P)
The Broken Earthenware Jug
19 Thus said the Lord: Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jug. Take with you[f] some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests, 2 and go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you.(Q) 3 You shall 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: I am going to bring such disaster upon this place that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.(R) 4 Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent(S) 5 and gone on building the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it enter my mind,(T) 6 therefore the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth or the valley of the son of Hinnom but the valley of Slaughter.(U) 7 And in this place I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem and will make them fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth.(V) 8 And I will make this city a horror, a thing to be hissed at; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters.(W) 9 And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and all shall eat the flesh of their neighbors in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.(X)
10 Then you shall break the jug in the sight of those who go with you 11 and shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it can never be mended. In Topheth they shall bury until there is no more room to bury.(Y) 12 Thus will I do to this place, says the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city like Topheth. 13 And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled like the place of Topheth—all the houses upon whose roofs offerings have been made to the whole host of heaven and libations have been poured out to other gods.(Z)
14 When Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, he stood in the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people:(AA) 15 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am now bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their necks, refusing to hear my words.(AB)
Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur
20 Now the priest Pashhur son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.(AC) 2 Then Pashhur struck the prophet Jeremiah and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord.(AD) 3 The next morning when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord has named you not Pashhur but ‘Terror-all-around.’ 4 For thus says the Lord: I am making you a terror to yourself and to all your friends, and they shall 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 shall carry them captive to Babylon and shall kill them with the sword.(AE) 5 I will give all the wealth of this city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon.(AF) 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, shall go into captivity, and to Babylon you shall go; there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.”(AG)
Jeremiah Denounces His Persecutors
7 O Lord, you have enticed me,
and I was enticed;
you have overpowered me,
and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long;
everyone mocks me.(AH)
8 For whenever I speak, I must cry out;
I must shout, “Violence and destruction!”
For the word of the Lord has become for me
a reproach and derision all day long.(AI)
9 If I say, “I will not mention him
or speak any more in his name,”
then within me there is something like a burning fire
shut up in my bones;
I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.(AJ)
10 For I hear many whispering:
“Terror is all around!
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
All my close friends
are watching for me to stumble.
“Perhaps he can be enticed,
and we can prevail against him
and take our revenge on him.”(AK)
11 But the Lord is with me like a terrifying warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble,
and they will not prevail.
They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.(AL)
12 O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous;
you see the heart and the mind;
let me see your retribution upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.(AM)
13 Sing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hands of evildoers.(AN)
14 Cursed be the day
on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!(AO)
15 Cursed be the man
who brought the news to my father, saying,
“A child is born to you, a son,”
making him very glad.(AP)
16 Let that man be like the cities
that the Lord overthrew without pity;
let him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,(AQ)
17 because he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave
and her womb forever pregnant.(AR)
18 Why did I come forth from the womb
to see toil and sorrow
and spend my days in shame?(AS)
Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadrezzar
21 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, saying,(AT) 2 “Please inquire of the Lord on our behalf, for King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon is making war against us; perhaps the Lord will perform a wonderful deed for us, as he has often done, and Nebuchadrezzar[g] will withdraw.”(AU)
3 Then Jeremiah said to them: 4 Thus you shall say to Zedekiah: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I am going to turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls, and I will bring them together into the center of this city.(AV) 5 I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and mighty arm, in anger, in fury, and in great wrath.(AW) 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both humans and animals; they shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, says the Lord, I will give King Zedekiah of Judah and his servants and the people in this city—those who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine—into the hands of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, into the hands of their enemies, into the hands of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword; he shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.(AX)
8 And to this people you shall say: Thus says the Lord: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.(AY) 9 Those who stay in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but those who go out and surrender to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have their lives as a prize of war.(AZ) 10 For I have set my face against this city for evil and not for good, says the Lord; it shall be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.(BA)
Message to the House of David
11 To the house of the king of Judah say: Hear the word of the Lord,(BB) 12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord:
Execute justice in the morning,
and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
anyone who has been robbed,
or else my wrath will go forth like fire
and burn, with no one to quench it,
because of their evil doings.(BC)
13 See, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
O rock of the plain,
says the Lord;
you who say, “Who can come down against us,
or who can enter our places of refuge?”(BD)
14 I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,
says the Lord;
I will kindle a fire in its forest,
and it shall devour all that is around it.(BE)
Exhortation to Repent
22 Thus says the Lord: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,(BF) 2 and say: Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah sitting on the throne of David—you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates.(BG) 3 Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place.(BH) 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, then through the gates of this house shall enter kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses—they, their servants, and their people. 5 But if you will not heed these words, I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.(BI) 6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:
You are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of Lebanon,
but I swear that I will make you a desert,
uninhabited cities.(BJ)
7 I will prepare destroyers against you,
all with their weapons;
they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.(BK)
8 And many nations will pass by this city, and all of them will say one to another, “Why has the Lord dealt in this way with that great city?”(BL) 9 And they will answer, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”(BM)
10 Do not weep for him who is dead,
nor bemoan him;
weep rather for him who goes away,
for he shall return no more
to see his native land.(BN)
Message to the Sons of Josiah
11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum son of King Josiah of Judah, who succeeded his father Josiah and who went away from this place: He shall return here no more, 12 but in the place where they have carried him captive he shall die, and he shall never see this land again.
13 Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness
and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbors work for nothing
and does not give them their wages,(BO)
14 who says, “I will build myself a spacious house
with large upper rooms,”
and who cuts out windows[h] for it,
paneling it with cedar
and painting it with vermilion.(BP)
15 Are you a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.(BQ)
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
says the Lord.(BR)
17 But your eyes and heart
are only on your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.(BS)
18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah:
They shall not lament for him, saying,
“Alas, my brother!” or “Alas, sister!”
They shall not lament for him, saying,
“Alas, lord!” or “Alas, his majesty!”(BT)
19 With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried:
dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.(BU)
20 Go up to Lebanon and cry out,
and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from Abarim,
for all your lovers are crushed.(BV)
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity,
but you said, “I will not listen.”
This has been your way from your youth,
for you have not obeyed my voice.(BW)
22 The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
and your lovers shall go into captivity;
then you will be ashamed and dismayed
because of all your wickedness.(BX)
23 O inhabitant of Lebanon,
nested among the cedars,
how you will groan[i] when pangs come upon you,
pain as of a woman in labor!
Judgment on Coniah (Jehoiachin)
24 As I live, says the Lord, even if King Coniah son of Jehoiakim of Judah were the signet ring on my right hand, even from there I would tear you off(BY) 25 and give you into the hands of those who seek your life, into the hands of those whom you fear, even into the hands of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and into the hands of the Chaldeans.(BZ) 26 I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die.(CA) 27 But they shall not return to the land to which they long to return.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken pot,
a vessel no one wants?
Why are he and his offspring hurled out
and cast away in a land that they do not know?
29 O land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!(CB)
30 Thus says the Lord:
Record this man as childless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
for none of his offspring shall succeed
in sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah.(CC)
Footnotes
Jeremiah 18-22
New International Version
Jeremiah 18-22
New International Version
At the Potter’s House
18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay(A) in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand,(B) Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted,(C) torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent(D) and not inflict on it the disaster(E) I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built(F) up and planted, 10 and if it does evil(G) in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider(H) the good I had intended to do for it.(I)
11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster(J) for you and devising a plan(K) against you. So turn(L) from your evil ways,(M) each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’(N) 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use.(O) We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.(P)’”
13 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“Inquire among the nations:
Who has ever heard anything like this?(Q)
A most horrible(R) thing has been done
by Virgin(S) Israel.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon
ever vanish from its rocky slopes?
Do its cool waters from distant sources
ever stop flowing?[a]
15 Yet my people have forgotten(T) me;
they burn incense(U) to worthless idols,(V)
which made them stumble(W) in their ways,
in the ancient paths.(X)
They made them walk in byways,
on roads not built up.(Y)
16 Their land will be an object of horror(Z)
and of lasting scorn;(AA)
all who pass by will be appalled(AB)
and will shake their heads.(AC)
17 Like a wind(AD) from the east,
I will scatter them before their enemies;
I will show them my back and not my face(AE)
in the day of their disaster.”
18 They said, “Come, let’s make plans(AF) against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest(AG) will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise,(AH) nor the word from the prophets.(AI) So come, let’s attack him with our tongues(AJ) and pay no attention to anything he says.”
19 Listen to me, Lord;
hear what my accusers(AK) are saying!
20 Should good be repaid with evil?(AL)
Yet they have dug a pit(AM) for me.
Remember that I stood(AN) before you
and spoke in their behalf(AO)
to turn your wrath away from them.
21 So give their children over to famine;(AP)
hand them over to the power of the sword.(AQ)
Let their wives be made childless and widows;(AR)
let their men be put to death,
their young men(AS) slain by the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry(AT) be heard from their houses
when you suddenly bring invaders against them,
for they have dug a pit(AU) to capture me
and have hidden snares(AV) for my feet.
23 But you, Lord, know
all their plots to kill(AW) me.
Do not forgive(AX) their crimes
or blot out their sins from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
deal with them in the time of your anger.(AY)
19 This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter.(AZ) Take along some of the elders(BA) of the people and of the priests 2 and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom,(BB) near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, 3 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings(BC) of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster(BD) on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.(BE) 4 For they have forsaken(BF) me and made this a place of foreign gods(BG); they have burned incense(BH) in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.(BI) 5 They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children(BJ) in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.(BK) 6 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Topheth(BL) or the Valley of Ben Hinnom,(BM) but the Valley of Slaughter.(BN)
7 “‘In this place I will ruin[b] the plans(BO) of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies,(BP) at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses(BQ) as food(BR) to the birds and the wild animals. 8 I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn;(BS) all who pass by will be appalled(BT) and will scoff because of all its wounds.(BU) 9 I will make them eat(BV) the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies(BW) will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’
10 “Then break the jar(BX) while those who go with you are watching, 11 and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash(BY) this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury(BZ) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 12 This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth. 13 The houses(CA) in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled(CB) like this place, Topheth—all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs(CC) to all the starry hosts(CD) and poured out drink offerings(CE) to other gods.’”
14 Jeremiah then returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the court(CF) of the Lord’s temple and said to all the people, 15 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster(CG) I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked(CH) and would not listen(CI) to my words.’”
Jeremiah and Pashhur
20 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer,(CJ) the official(CK) in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten(CL) and put in the stocks(CM) at the Upper Gate of Benjamin(CN) at the Lord’s temple. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name(CO) for you is not Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side.(CP) 4 For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes(CQ) you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will give(CR) all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry(CS) them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. 5 I will deliver all the wealth(CT) of this city into the hands of their enemies—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away(CU) as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied(CV) lies.’”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
7 You deceived[c](CW) me, Lord, and I was deceived[d];
you overpowered(CX) me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed(CY) all day long;
everyone mocks(CZ) me.
8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.(DA)
So the word of the Lord has brought me
insult and reproach(DB) all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word
or speak anymore in his name,”(DC)
his word is in my heart like a fire,(DD)
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;(DE)
indeed, I cannot.
10 I hear many whispering,
“Terror(DF) on every side!
Denounce(DG) him! Let’s denounce him!”
All my friends(DH)
are waiting for me to slip,(DI) saying,
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we will prevail(DJ) over him
and take our revenge(DK) on him.”
11 But the Lord(DL) is with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors(DM) will stumble and not prevail.(DN)
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;(DO)
their dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous
and probe the heart and mind,(DP)
let me see your vengeance(DQ) on them,
for to you I have committed(DR) my cause.
13 Sing(DS) to the Lord!
Give praise to the Lord!
He rescues(DT) the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.(DU)
14 Cursed be the day I was born!(DV)
May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,
who made him very glad, saying,
“A child is born to you—a son!”
16 May that man be like the towns(DW)
the Lord overthrew without pity.
May he hear wailing(DX) in the morning,
a battle cry at noon.
17 For he did not kill me in the womb,(DY)
with my mother as my grave,
her womb enlarged forever.
18 Why did I ever come out of the womb(DZ)
to see trouble(EA) and sorrow
and to end my days in shame?(EB)
God Rejects Zedekiah’s Request
21 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah(EC) sent to him Pashhur(ED) son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah(EE) son of Maaseiah. They said: 2 “Inquire(EF) now of the Lord for us because Nebuchadnezzar[e](EG) king of Babylon(EH) is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders(EI) for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us.”
3 But Jeremiah answered them, “Tell Zedekiah, 4 ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn(EJ) against you the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians[f] who are outside the wall besieging(EK) you. And I will gather them inside this city. 5 I myself will fight(EL) against you with an outstretched hand(EM) and a mighty arm(EN) in furious anger and in great wrath. 6 I will strike(EO) down those who live in this city—both man and beast—and they will die of a terrible plague.(EP) 7 After that, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah(EQ) king of Judah, his officials and the people in this city who survive the plague,(ER) sword and famine, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon(ES) and to their enemies(ET) who want to kill them.(EU) He will put them to the sword;(EV) he will show them no mercy or pity or compassion.’(EW)
8 “Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life(EX) and the way of death. 9 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague.(EY) But whoever goes out and surrenders(EZ) to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives.(FA) 10 I have determined to do this city harm(FB) and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands(FC) of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’(FD)
11 “Moreover, say to the royal house(FE) of Judah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord. 12 This is what the Lord says to you, house of David:
“‘Administer justice(FF) every morning;
rescue from the hand of the oppressor(FG)
the one who has been robbed,
or my wrath will break out and burn like fire(FH)
because of the evil(FI) you have done—
burn with no one to quench(FJ) it.
13 I am against(FK) you, Jerusalem,
you who live above this valley(FL)
on the rocky plateau, declares the Lord—
you who say, “Who can come against us?
Who can enter our refuge?”(FM)
14 I will punish you as your deeds(FN) deserve,
declares the Lord.
I will kindle a fire(FO) in your forests(FP)
that will consume everything around you.’”
Judgment Against Wicked Kings
22 This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king(FQ) of Judah and proclaim this message there: 2 ‘Hear(FR) the word of the Lord to you, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne(FS)—you, your officials and your people who come through these gates.(FT) 3 This is what the Lord says: Do what is just(FU) and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor(FV) the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow,(FW) and do not shed innocent blood(FX) in this place. 4 For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings(FY) who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. 5 But if you do not obey(FZ) these commands, declares the Lord, I swear(GA) by myself that this palace will become a ruin.’”
6 For this is what the Lord says about the palace of the king of Judah:
“Though you are like Gilead(GB) to me,
like the summit of Lebanon,(GC)
I will surely make you like a wasteland,(GD)
like towns not inhabited.
7 I will send destroyers(GE) against you,
each man with his weapons,
and they will cut(GF) up your fine cedar beams
and throw them into the fire.(GG)
8 “People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’(GH) 9 And the answer will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshiped and served other gods.(GI)’”
10 Do not weep for the dead(GJ) king or mourn(GK) his loss;
rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled,
because he will never return(GL)
nor see his native land again.
11 For this is what the Lord says about Shallum[g](GM) son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but has gone from this place: “He will never return. 12 He will die(GN) in the place where they have led him captive; he will not see this land again.”
13 “Woe(GO) to him who builds(GP) his palace by unrighteousness,
his upper rooms by injustice,
making his own people work for nothing,
not paying(GQ) them for their labor.
14 He says, ‘I will build myself a great palace(GR)
with spacious upper rooms.’
So he makes large windows in it,
panels it with cedar(GS)
and decorates it in red.(GT)
15 “Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,(GU)
so all went well(GV) with him.
16 He defended the cause of the poor and needy,(GW)
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know(GX) me?”
declares the Lord.
17 “But your eyes and your heart
are set only on dishonest gain,(GY)
on shedding innocent blood(GZ)
and on oppression and extortion.”(HA)
18 Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
“They will not mourn(HB) for him:
‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’
They will not mourn for him:
‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’
19 He will have the burial(HC) of a donkey—
dragged away and thrown(HD)
outside the gates of Jerusalem.”
20 “Go up to Lebanon and cry out,(HE)
let your voice be heard in Bashan,(HF)
cry out from Abarim,(HG)
for all your allies(HH) are crushed.
21 I warned you when you felt secure,(HI)
but you said, ‘I will not listen!’
This has been your way from your youth;(HJ)
you have not obeyed(HK) me.
22 The wind(HL) will drive all your shepherds(HM) away,
and your allies(HN) will go into exile.
Then you will be ashamed and disgraced(HO)
because of all your wickedness.
23 You who live in ‘Lebanon,[h](HP)’
who are nestled in cedar buildings,
how you will groan when pangs come upon you,
pain(HQ) like that of a woman in labor!
24 “As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “even if you, Jehoiachin[i](HR) son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring(HS) on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25 I will deliver(HT) you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians.[j] 26 I will hurl(HU) you and the mother(HV) who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. 27 You will never come back to the land you long to return(HW) to.”
28 Is this man Jehoiachin(HX) a despised, broken pot,(HY)
an object no one wants?
Why will he and his children be hurled(HZ) out,
cast into a land(IA) they do not know?
29 O land,(IB) land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
30 This is what the Lord says:
“Record this man as if childless,(IC)
a man who will not prosper(ID) in his lifetime,
for none of his offspring(IE) will prosper,
none will sit on the throne(IF) of David
or rule anymore in Judah.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 18:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
- Jeremiah 19:7 The Hebrew for ruin sounds like the Hebrew for jar (see verses 1 and 10).
- Jeremiah 20:7 Or persuaded
- Jeremiah 20:7 Or persuaded
- Jeremiah 21:2 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, of which Nebuchadnezzar is a variant; here and often in Jeremiah and Ezekiel
- Jeremiah 21:4 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 9
- Jeremiah 22:11 Also called Jehoahaz
- Jeremiah 22:23 That is, the palace in Jerusalem (see 1 Kings 7:2)
- Jeremiah 22:24 Hebrew Koniah, a variant of Jehoiachin; also in verse 28
- Jeremiah 22:25 Or Chaldeans
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