Study Desk

Come here and listen to me! I was there when Babylon began as a nation. And from the beginning, I spoke clearly so that people could know what I said." Now, the Lord God sends me and his Spirit to tell you these things.

The Lord is the one who made me in my mother's womb, so that I could be his servant. He wanted me to lead Jacob and Israel back to him. The Lord gives me honor. I get my strength from my God.

"My servant, I gave you the words I want you to say, and I covered you with my hands to protect you. I did this to make a new heaven and earth and so that you would say to Israel, ‘You are my people.'"

"This happened so that my people will learn about me. My people will know who I am. My people will know my name, and they will know that I Am He is speaking to them."

Listen closely to what I say. Listen to me so that you will live. I will make an agreement with you that will last forever. It will be an agreement you can trust, like the one I made with David— a promise to love him and be loyal to him forever.

"Some foreigners have chosen to follow the Lord . They do this so that they can serve him and love his name and be his servants. They keep the Sabbath as a special day of worship, and they will continue to follow closely my agreement.

He was by Moses' side and led him with his wonderful hand. He divided the water, so that the people could walk through the sea. He made his name famous by doing those great things.

The Lord says, "These are the people who wash themselves and make themselves pure so that they can go into their special gardens to worship their idols. They follow each other into the gardens to eat meat from pigs, rats, and other dirty things. But they will all be destroyed together.

"I brought you into a good land, a land filled with many good things. I did this so that you could eat the fruit and crops that grow there. But you only made my land ‘dirty.' I gave that land to you, but you made it a bad place.

Has any nation ever stopped worshiping their old gods so that they could worship new gods? No! And their gods are not really gods at all! But my people stopped worshiping their glorious God and started worshiping idols that are worth nothing.

People of Jerusalem, wash the evil from your hearts. Make your hearts pure so that you can be saved. Don't continue making evil plans.

"‘I will take away their fruit and crops so that there will be no harvest, says the Lord . There will be no grapes on the vine and no figs on the fig tree. Even the leaves will become dry and die. I will take away the things I gave them.'"

They make their idols beautiful with silver and gold. They use hammers and nails to fasten their idols down so that they will not fall over.

This is what the Lord says: "This time, I will throw the people of Judah out of this country. I will bring pain and trouble to them. I will do this so that they will learn their lesson."

A loincloth is wrapped tightly around a man's waist. In the same way, I wrapped the family of Israel and the family of Judah around me." This message is from the Lord . "I did that so that they would be my people and bring me fame, praise, and honor. But my people did not listen to me."

"It will be very bad for King Jehoiakim. He is doing wrong so that he can build his palace. He is cheating people so that he can build rooms upstairs. He is not paying his own people. He is making them work for nothing.

I will protect them. I will bring them back to the land of Judah. I will not tear them down—I will build them up. I will not pull them up—I will plant them so that they can grow.

I poured this wine for the people of Jerusalem and Judah. I made the kings and leaders of Judah drink from the cup. I did this so that they would become an empty desert. I did this so that place would be destroyed so badly that people would whistle and say curses about it. And it happened—Judah is like that now.

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.

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.