Jeremiah’s Lesson at the Temple

26 This message came from the Lord during the first year that Jehoiakim^[a] son of Josiah was king of Judah. ² The Lord said, “Jeremiah, stand in the Temple yard of the Lord. Give this message to all the people of Judah who are coming to worship at the Temple of the Lord. Tell them everything that I tell you to speak. Don’t leave out any part of my message. ³ Maybe they will listen and obey my message. Maybe they will stop living such evil lives. If they change, I will change my mind about my plans to punish them. I am planning this punishment because of the many evil things they have done. ⁴ You will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I gave my teachings to you. You must obey me and follow my teachings. ⁵ You must listen to what my servants say to you. The prophets are my servants. I have sent my prophets to you again and again, but you did not listen to them. ⁶ If you don’t obey me, I will make my Temple in Jerusalem just like my Holy Tent at Shiloh.^[b] People all over the world will think of Jerusalem when they ask for bad things to happen to other cities.’”

⁷ The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah say all these words at the Lord’s Temple. ⁸ Jeremiah finished speaking everything the Lord had commanded him to say to the people. Then the priests, the prophets, and all the people grabbed Jeremiah. They said, “You will die for saying such terrible things! ⁹ How dare you say such a thing in the name of the Lord! How dare you say that this Temple will be destroyed like the one at Shiloh! How dare you say that Jerusalem will become a desert with no one living in it!” All the people gathered around Jeremiah in the Temple of the Lord.

¹⁰ Now the rulers of Judah heard about everything that was happening. So they came out of the king’s palace. They went up to the Lord’s Temple. They took their places at the entrance of the New Gate. The New Gate is a gate leading to the Lord’s Temple. ¹¹ Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the rulers and all the other people. They said, “Jeremiah should be killed. He said bad things about Jerusalem. You heard him say those things.”

¹² Then Jeremiah spoke to all the rulers of Judah and all the other people. He said, “The Lord sent me to say these things about this Temple and this city. Everything that you have heard is from the Lord. ¹³ You people, change your lives! You must start doing good! You must obey the Lord your God. If you do that, he will change his mind. He will not do the bad things he told you about. ¹⁴ As for me, I am in your power. Do to me what you think is good and right. ¹⁵ But if you kill me, be sure of one thing. You will be guilty of killing an innocent person. You will make this city and everyone living in it guilty too. The Lord really did send me to you. The message you heard really is from the Lord.”

¹⁶ Then the rulers and all the people spoke. They said to the priests and the prophets, “Jeremiah must not be killed. What he told us comes from the Lord our God.”

¹⁷ Then some of the elders stood up and spoke to all the people. ¹⁸ They said, “Micah the prophet was from the city of Moresheth. He was a prophet during the time that Hezekiah was king of Judah. Micah said this to all the people of Judah: ‘This is what the Lord All-Powerful says:

¹⁹ “King Hezekiah of Judah and the people of Judah did not kill Micah. You know that Hezekiah respected the Lord and wanted to please him. So the Lord changed his mind and didn’t do the bad things to Judah that he said he would do. If we hurt Jeremiah, we will bring many troubles on ourselves. And those troubles will be our own fault.”

²⁰ In the past there was another man who spoke the Lord’s message. His name was Uriah son of Shemaiah from the city of Kiriath Jearim. Uriah said the same things against this city and this land that Jeremiah did. ²¹ King Jehoiakim, his army officers, and the leaders of Judah heard Uriah and became angry. King Jehoiakim wanted to kill Uriah, but Uriah heard about it. Uriah was afraid, so he escaped to the land of Egypt. ²² But King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Acbor and some other men to Egypt. ²³ They brought Uriah from Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim ordered Uriah to be killed with a sword. Uriah’s body was thrown into the burial place where the poor are buried.

²⁴ There was an important man named Ahikam son of Shaphan who supported Jeremiah. He kept Jeremiah from being killed by the priests and prophets.

The Lord Made Nebuchadnezzar Ruler

27 A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It came during the fourth year that Zedekiah^[d] son of Josiah was king of Judah. ² This is what the Lord said to me: “Jeremiah, make a yoke out of straps and poles. Put that yoke on the back of your neck. ³ Then send a message to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. Send the message with the messengers of these kings who have come to Jerusalem to see King Zedekiah of Judah. ⁴ Tell them to give the message to their masters. Tell them that this is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘Tell your masters that ⁵ I made the earth and all the people on it. I made all the animals on the earth. I did this with my great power and my strong arm. I can give the earth to anyone I want. ⁶ Now I have given all your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He is my servant. I will make even the wild animals obey him. ⁷ All nations will serve Nebuchadnezzar and his son and his grandson. Then the time will come for Babylon to be defeated. Many nations and great kings will make Babylon their servant.

⁸ “‘But if some nations or kingdoms refuse to serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and refuse to be put under his control, I will punish them, says the Lord. I will destroy them with war, hunger, and disease. I will use Nebuchadnezzar to destroy any nation that fights against him. ⁹ So don’t listen to your prophets. Don’t listen to those who use magic to tell what will happen in the future. Don’t listen to those who say they can interpret dreams. Don’t listen to those who talk to the dead or to people who practice magic. All of them tell you, “You will not be slaves to the king of Babylon.” ¹⁰ But they are telling you lies. They will only cause you to be taken far from your homeland. I will force you to leave your homes, and you will die in another land.

¹¹ “‘But the nations that put their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and obey him will live. I will let them stay in their own country and serve the king of Babylon,’ says the Lord. ‘The people from those nations will live in their own land and farm it.’”

¹² I gave the same message to King Zedekiah of Judah. I said, “Zedekiah, you must place your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and obey him. If you serve the king of Babylon and his people, you will live. ¹³ If you don’t agree to serve the king of Babylon, you and your people will die from war, hunger, and disease. This is what the Lord said would happen. ¹⁴ But the false prophets are saying, ‘You will never be slaves to the king of Babylon.’

“Don’t listen to those prophets, because they are telling you lies. ¹⁵ ‘I didn’t send them,’ says the Lord. ‘They are telling lies and saying that the message is from me. So I will send you people of Judah away. You will die, and the prophets who spoke to you will die also.’”

¹⁶ Then I told the priests and all the people that this is what the Lord says: “Those false prophets are saying, ‘The Babylonians took many things from the Lord’s Temple. These things will be brought back soon.’ Don’t listen to them because they are telling you lies. ¹⁷ Don’t listen to those prophets. Serve the king of Babylon. Accept your punishment, and you will live. There is no reason for you to cause this city of Jerusalem to be destroyed. ¹⁸ If they are prophets and their message is from the Lord, let them pray. Let them pray to the Lord about the things that are still in the Lord’s Temple, in the king’s palace, and in Jerusalem. Let them pray that all those things will not be taken away to Babylon.

¹⁹ “This is what the Lord All-Powerful says about the things that are still left in Jerusalem. In the Temple, there are the pillars, the bronze sea, the moveable stands, and other things.^[e] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon left those things in Jerusalem. ²⁰ He didn’t take them away when he took Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah away as a prisoner. Nebuchadnezzar also took other important people away from Judah and Jerusalem. ²¹ This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says about the things still left in the Lord’s Temple and in the king’s palace and in Jerusalem: ²² ‘All those things will also be taken to Babylon. They will be brought to Babylon until the day comes when I go to get them,’ says the Lord. ‘Then I will bring those things back. I will put them back in this place.’”

The False Prophet Hananiah

28 In the fifth month of the fourth year that Zedekiah^[f] was king of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur spoke to me. Hananiah was from the town of Gibeon. Hananiah was in the Lord’s Temple when he spoke to me. The priests and all the people were there also. This is what Hananiah said: ² “The Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke that the king of Babylon has put on the people of Judah. ³ Before two years are over, I will bring back all the things that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from the Lord’s Temple. Nebuchadnezzar has carried those things to Babylon. But I will bring them back here to Jerusalem. ⁴ I will also bring the king of Judah, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, back to this place. And I will bring back all the people of Judah that Nebuchadnezzar forced to leave their homes and go to Babylon,’ says the Lord. ‘So I will break the yoke that the king of Babylon put on the people of Judah.’”

⁵ Then the prophet Jeremiah answered the prophet Hananiah. They were standing in the Temple of the Lord. The priests and all the people there could hear Jeremiah’s answer. ⁶ Jeremiah said to Hananiah, “Amen! May the Lord do that. May the Lord make the message you say come true. May he bring the things of the Lord’s Temple back to this place from Babylon. And may he bring all those who were forced to leave their homes back to this place.

⁷ “But listen to what I have to say to you and to all the people. ⁸ There were prophets long before you and I became prophets, Hananiah. They spoke against many countries and great kingdoms and always warned that war, hunger, and disease would come to them. ⁹ So the prophet who says that we will have peace must be tested. People can know that he really was sent by the Lord only if his message comes true.”

¹⁰ Jeremiah was wearing a yoke around his neck. The prophet Hananiah took the yoke from Jeremiah’s neck and broke it. ¹¹ Then Hananiah spoke loudly so that all the people could hear him. He said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way, I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He put that yoke on all the nations of the world, but I will break it before two years are over.’”

After Hananiah said that, Jeremiah left the Temple.

¹² Then the message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. This happened after Hananiah had taken the yoke off Jeremiah’s neck and had broken it. ¹³ The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Go and tell Hananiah that this is what the Lord says: ‘You have broken a wooden yoke, but I will make a yoke of iron in the place of the wooden yoke. ¹⁴ The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, is the one saying this. I will put a yoke of iron on the necks of all these nations. I will do that to make them serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and they will be slaves to him. I will even give Nebuchadnezzar control over the wild animals.’”

¹⁵ Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you. But you have made the people of Judah trust in lies. ¹⁶ So this is what the Lord says: ‘Soon I will take you from this world, Hananiah. You will die this year, because you taught the people to turn against the Lord.’”

¹⁷ Hananiah died in the seventh month of that same year.

A Letter to the Captives in Babylon

29 Jeremiah sent a letter to the captives in Babylon. He sent it to the elders, the priests, the prophets, and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem to Babylon. ² (This letter was sent after King Jehoiachin, the queen mother, the officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the carpenters, and the metalworkers had been taken from Jerusalem.) ³ King Zedekiah of Judah sent Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah to King Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah gave them the letter to take to Babylon. This is what the letter said:

⁴ This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says to all the people he sent into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵ “Build houses and live in them. Settle in the land. Plant gardens and eat the food you grow. ⁶ Get married and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons, and let your daughters be married. Do this so that they also may have sons and daughters. Have many children and grow in number in Babylon. Don’t become fewer in number. ⁷ Also, do good things for the city I sent you to. Pray to the Lord for the city you are living in, because if there is peace in that city, you will have peace also.” ⁸ The Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says, “Don’t let your prophets and those who practice magic fool you. Don’t listen to the dreams they have. ⁹ They are telling lies, and they are saying that their message is from me. But I didn’t send it.” This message is from the Lord.

¹⁰ This is what the Lord says: “Babylon will be powerful for 70 years. After that time, I will come to you people who are living in Babylon. I will keep my good promise to bring you back to Jerusalem. ¹¹ I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future. ¹² Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will search for me, and when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me. ¹⁴ I will let you find me.” This message is from the Lord. “And I will bring you back from your captivity. I forced you to leave this place. But I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have sent you,” says the Lord, “and I will bring you back to this place.”

¹⁵ You people might say, “But the Lord has given us prophets here in Babylon.” ¹⁶ But this is what the Lord says about your relatives who were not carried away to Babylon. I am talking about the king who is sitting on David’s throne now and all the other people who are still in the city of Jerusalem. ¹⁷ The Lord All-Powerful says, “I will soon bring war, hunger, and disease against those who are still in Jerusalem. And I will make them the same as bad figs that are too rotten to eat. ¹⁸ I will attack those who are still in Jerusalem with war, hunger, and disease. And I will cause such pain that all the kingdoms of the earth will be frightened at what has happened to those people. They will be destroyed. People will whistle with amazement when they hear what happened. And people will use them as an example when they ask for bad things to happen to people. People will insult them wherever I force them to go. ¹⁹ I will make all these things happen because the people of Jerusalem have not listened to my message.” This message is from the Lord. “I sent my message to them again and again. I used my servants, the prophets, to give my messages to them, but they didn’t listen.” This message is from the Lord. ²⁰ “You people are captives. I forced you to leave Jerusalem and go to Babylon. So listen to the message from the Lord.”

²¹ This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah: “These two men have been telling you lies. They have said that their message is from me. I will give these two prophets to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And he will kill them in front of all you who are captives in Babylon. ²² They will be an example of a terrible way to die. Yes, in the future, when the Jewish captives want something bad to happen to someone, they will say this curse: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, those men the king of Babylon burned in the fire!’ ²³ They did very bad things among the people of Israel. They committed the sin of adultery with their neighbors’ wives. They also spoke lies and said those lies were a message from me. I did not tell them to do that. I know what they have done. I am a witness.” This message is from the Lord.

God’s Message to Shemaiah

²⁴ Also give a message to Shemaiah from the Nehelam family. ²⁵ This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “Shemaiah, you sent letters to all the people in Jerusalem and to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. You also sent letters to all the priests. You sent those letters in your own name and not by my authority. ²⁶ Shemaiah, this is what you said in your letter to Zephaniah: ‘Zephaniah, the Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada. You are to be in charge of the Lord’s Temple. You should arrest anyone who acts like a crazy person^[g] and acts like a prophet. You should put that person’s feet between large blocks of wood and put neck irons^[h] on him. ²⁷ Now Jeremiah is acting like a prophet. So why didn’t you arrest him? ²⁸ Jeremiah has sent this message to us in Babylon: You people in Babylon will be there for a long time, so build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what you grow.’”

²⁹ Zephaniah the priest read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰ Then this message from the Lord came to Jeremiah: ³¹ “Jeremiah, send this message to all the captives in Babylon: ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah, the man from the Nehelam family: Shemaiah has spoken to you, but I didn’t send him. He has made you believe a lie. ³² Because Shemaiah has done that, this is what the Lord says: I will soon punish Shemaiah, the man from the Nehelam family. I will completely destroy his family, and he will not share in the good things I will do for my people.’” This message is from the Lord. “‘I will punish Shemaiah because he has taught the people to turn against the Lord.’”