Study Desk

"Nations, listen to the message from the Lord . Tell this message in the faraway lands by the sea: ‘The one who scattered the people of Israel will bring them back, and he will watch over his people like a shepherd.'

Instead, each person will die for his own sin; the person who eats sour grapes will grind his own teeth.

The Lord makes the sun shine in the day and the moon and stars to 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:

Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the Babylonian army, but he will surely be handed over to the king of Babylon. And he will speak to the king of Babylon face to face and see him with his own eyes.

While Jeremiah was still locked up in the courtyard of the guards, the Lord spoke his word to him a second time:

There will be sounds of joy and gladness and the happy sounds of brides and bridegrooms. There will be the sounds of people bringing to the Temple of the Lord their offerings of thanks to the Lord . They will say, ‘Praise the Lord All-Powerful, because the Lord is good! His love continues forever!' They will say this because I will again do good things for Judah, as I did in the beginning," says the Lord .

The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah, saying:

The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah, saying:

The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the towns around it. Nebuchadnezzar had with him all his army and the armies of all the kingdoms and peoples he ruled.

The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. This was after King Zedekiah had made an agreement with all the people in Jerusalem to free all the Hebrew slaves.

Everyone was supposed to free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female. No one was to keep a fellow Jew as a slave.

Then the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah:

I said to your ancestors: ‘At the end of every seven years, each one of you must set his Hebrew slaves free. If a fellow Hebrew has sold himself to you, you must let him go free after he has served you for six years.' But your ancestors did not listen or pay attention to me.

A short time ago you changed your hearts and did what I say is right. Each of you gave freedom to his fellow Hebrews who were slaves. And you even made an agreement before me in the place where I have chosen to be worshiped.

I will hand Zedekiah king of Judah and his officers over to their enemies, and to everyone who wants to kill them, and to the army of the king of Babylon, even though they have left Jerusalem.

When Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah, saying:

Then the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah:

‘Jonadab son of Recab ordered his descendants not to drink wine, and that command has been obeyed. Until today they have obeyed their ancestor's command; they do not drink wine. But I, the Lord , have given you messages again and again, but you did not obey me.

Then Jeremiah said to the Recabites, "This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the commands of your ancestor Jonadab and have followed all of his teachings; you have done everything he commanded.'

King Jehoiakim and his servants heard everything that was said, but they were not frightened! They did not tear their clothes to show their sorrow.