Study Desk

the sounds of joy and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will be heard again, along with the joyous songs of people bringing thanksgiving offerings to the Lord . They will sing, ‘Give thanks to the Lord of Heaven's Armies, for the Lord is good. His faithful love endures forever!' For I will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past, says the Lord .

"The day will come, says the Lord , when I will do for Israel and Judah all the good things I have promised them.

For this is what the Lord says: David will have a descendant sitting on the throne of Israel forever.

only then will my covenant with my servant David be broken. Only then will he no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. The same is true for my covenant with the Levitical priests who minister before me.

but will die peacefully. People will burn incense in your memory, just as they did for your ancestors, the kings who preceded you. They will mourn for you, crying, "Alas, our master is dead!" This I have decreed, says the Lord .'"

This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah made a covenant with the people, proclaiming freedom for the slaves.

Yes, I will cut you apart, whether you are officials of Judah or Jerusalem, court officials, priests, or common people—for you have broken your oath.

I will give you to your enemies, and they will kill you. Your bodies will be food for the vultures and wild animals.

"I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials to the army of the king of Babylon. And although they have left Jerusalem for a while,

Perhaps the people of Judah will repent when they hear again all the terrible things I have planned for them. Then I will be able to forgive their sins and wrongdoings."

So Jeremiah sent for Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated all the prophecies that the Lord had given him, Baruch wrote them on a scroll.

Perhaps even yet they will turn from their evil ways and ask the Lord 's forgiveness before it is too late. For the Lord has threatened them with his terrible anger."

So Baruch explained, "Jeremiah dictated them, and I wrote them down in ink, word for word, on this scroll."

Then the officials left the scroll for safekeeping in the room of Elishama the secretary and went to tell the king what had happened.

I will punish him and his family and his attendants for their sins. I will pour out on them and on all the people of Jerusalem and Judah all the disasters I promised, for they would not listen to my warnings.'"

Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to ask Jeremiah, "Please pray to the Lord our God for us."

"This is what the Lord says: Do not fool yourselves into thinking that the Babylonians are gone for good. They aren't!

Jeremiah was put into a dungeon cell, where he remained for many days.

Listen, my lord the king, I beg you. Don't send me back to the dungeon in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for I will die there."

"My lord the king," he said, "these men have done a very evil thing in putting Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern. He will soon die of hunger, for almost all the bread in the city is gone."