Study Desk

‘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.'"

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.'"

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."

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.

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 .'"

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.

"You people are captives. I forced you to leave Jerusalem and go to Babylon. So listen to the message from the Lord ."

Now Jeremiah is acting like a prophet. So why didn't you arrest him?

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.'"

"So Jacob, my servant, don't be afraid!" This message is from the Lord . "Israel, don't be afraid. I will save you from that faraway place. You are captives in that faraway land, but I will save your descendants. I will bring them back from that land. Jacob will have peace again. People will not bother Jacob. There will be no enemy to frighten my people.

There is no one to care for your sores, so you will not be healed.

The Lord says, "One of their own people will lead them. That ruler will come from my people. People can come close to me only if I ask them to. So I will ask that leader to come to me, and he will be close to me.

I wandered away from you. But I finally realized how wrong I was. So I changed my heart and life. I am ashamed and embarrassed about the foolish things I did when I was young.'"

He makes the sun shine in the day, and he makes the moon and the stars shine at night. He stirs up the sea so that its waves crash on the shore. The Lord All-Powerful is his name. This is what the Lord says:

"Then it happened just as the Lord said. My cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard. Hanamel said to me, ‘Jeremiah, buy my field near the town of Anathoth, in the land of the tribe of Benjamin. Buy that land for yourself because it is your right to buy it and own it.'" So I knew that this was a message from the Lord .

"This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘Take both copies of the deed—the sealed copy and the copy that was not sealed—and put them in a clay jar. Do this so that these deeds will last a long time.'

They came into this land and took it for their own. But they didn't obey you. They didn't follow your teachings or do what you commanded. So you made all these terrible things happen to them.

"And now the enemy has surrounded the city. They are building ramps so that they can get over the walls of Jerusalem and capture it. Because of war, hunger, and disease, the city of Jerusalem will fall to the Babylonian army. The Babylonians are attacking the city now. You said this would happen, and now you see it is happening.

"From the time that Jerusalem was built until now, the people of this city have made me angry. This city has made me very angry, so I must remove it from my sight.

They have made their idols, and I hate those idols. They put their idols in the Temple that is called by my name, so they made my Temple ‘dirty.'