Study Desk

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the ^(C1)fourth year of ^(C2)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the ^(C3)first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),

the word which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the ^(C1)people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,

"From the ^(C1)thirteenth year of ^(C2)Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, ^(F1)these ^(C3)twenty-three years the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you ^(C4)again and again, but you have not listened.

"And the LORD has sent to you all His ^(C1)servants the prophets again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear,

saying, '^(C1)Turn now, everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the land which the LORD has given to you and your forefathers ^(C2)forever and ever;

and ^(C1)do not follow other gods to ^(F1)serve them and to ^(F2)worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, then I will do you no harm.'

"Yet you have not listened to Me," declares the LORD, "in order to ^(C1)provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.

"Therefore this is what the LORD of armies says: 'Because you have not obeyed My words,

behold, I will ^(C1)send and take all the families of the north,' declares the LORD, 'and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^(C2)My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will ^(F1)completely destroy them and ^(C3)make them an object of horror and ^(F2)hissing, and an everlasting place of ruins.

'Moreover, I will ^(C1)eliminate from them the voice of jubilation and the voice of joy, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the ^(C2)sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.

'^(C1)This entire land will be a place of ruins and an object of horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for ^(C2)seventy years.

'Then it will be ^(C1)when seventy years are completed I will ^(C2)punish the king of Babylon and that nation,' declares the LORD, 'for their wrongdoing, and the land of the Chaldeans; and ^(C3)I will make it an everlasting desolation.

'I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in ^(C1)this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against ^(C2)all the nations.

'(^(F1)For ^(C1)many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will ^(C2)repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)'"

For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to me: "Take this ^(C1)cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and give it to all the nations to whom I send you, to drink from it.

"Then they will ^(C1)drink and loudly vomit and act insanely because of the sword that I am going to send among them."

So I took the cup from the LORD'S hand and ^(C1)gave it to all the nations to whom the LORD sent me, to drink from it:

To ^(C1)Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, and its kings and its officials, to make them places of ruins, objects of horror, ^(F1)hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;

To ^(C1)Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, and all his people;

and to all the ^(C1)foreign ^(F1)people, all the kings of the ^(C2)land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the ^(C3)Philistines (that is, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of ^(C4)Ashdod);

To ^(C1)Edom, ^(C2)Moab, and the sons of ^(C3)Ammon;

and to all the kings of ^(C1)Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of ^(C2)the coastlands which are beyond the sea;

and to ^(C1)Dedan, Tema, ^(C2)Buz, and all who ^(C3)trim the corners of their hair;

and to all the kings of ^(C1)Arabia and all the kings of the ^(C2)foreign ^(F1)people who live in the desert;

and to all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of ^(C1)Elam, and all the kings of ^(C2)Media;

and to all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and ^(C1)all the kingdoms of the earth which are on the face of the ground; and the king of ^(F1)(C2)Sheshach shall drink it after them.

"And you shall say to them, 'This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: "^(C1)Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall down, and do not get up, because of the ^(C2)sword which I am sending among you."'

"And if they ^(C1)refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, 'This is what the LORD of armies says: "^(C2)You shall certainly drink!

"For behold, I am ^(C1)beginning to inflict disaster on this city which is ^(C2)called by My name, so should you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment, for ^(C3)I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth," declares the LORD of armies.'

"Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them, 'The ^(C1)LORD will ^(C2)roar from on high And raise His voice from His holy dwelling; He will roar forcefully against His ^(F1)fold. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, Against all the inhabitants of the earth.

-'A clamor has come to the end of the earth, Because the LORD has ^(C1)a controversy with the nations. He is entering into ^(C2)judgment with ^(F1)humanity; As for the wicked, He has turned them over to the sword,' declares the LORD."

This is what the LORD of armies says: "Behold, evil is going out From ^(C1)nation to nation, And a great ^(C2)storm is being stirred up From the remotest parts of the earth.

"Those ^(C1)put to death by the LORD on that day will be from one end of the earth to the ^(F1)other. They will ^(C2)not be mourned, gathered, or buried; they will be like ^(C3)dung on the face of the ground.

-"Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; ^(C1)Wallow in the dust, you masters of the flock; For the days of your ^(C2)slaughter and your dispersions ^(F1)have come, And you will fall like a precious vessel.

-"^(F1)There will be ^(C1)no sanctuary for the shepherds, Nor escape for the masters of the flock.

-"Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds, And the wailing of the masters of the flock! For the LORD is destroying their pasture,

And the peaceful ^(C1)grazing places are devastated Because of the ^(C2)fierce anger of the LORD.

-"He has left His hiding place ^(C1)like the lion; For their land has become a horror Because of the fierceness of the ^(F1)oppressing sword And because of His fierce anger."

In the beginning of the reign of ^(C1)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the LORD, saying,

"This is what the LORD says: '^(C1)Stand in the courtyard of the LORD'S house, and speak to all the cities of Judah who have ^(C2)come to worship in the LORD'S house ^(C3)all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. ^(C4)Do not omit a word!

'^(C1)Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, and ^(C2)I will relent of the disaster which I am planning to inflict on them because of the evil of their deeds.'

"And you shall say to them, 'This is what the LORD says: "^(C1)If you do not listen to Me, to ^(C2)walk in My Law which I have set before you,

to listen to the words of ^(C1)My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened;

then I will make this house like ^(C1)Shiloh, and I will make this city a ^(C2)curse to all the nations of the earth."'"

The ^(C1)priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD.

Yet when Jeremiah finished speaking everything that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, "^(C1)You must die!

"Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, 'This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be ^(C1)in ruins, without inhabitant'?" And ^(C2)all the people gathered to Jeremiah at the house of the LORD.

When the ^(C1)officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of the LORD and sat at the ^(C2)entrance of the New Gate of the LORD'S house.

Then the priests and the prophets ^(C1)spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, "A ^(C2)death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied ^(C3)against this city, just as you have heard with your own ears!"

Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, "^(C1)The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.

"Now then, ^(C1)reform your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will relent of the disaster which He has pronounced against you.

"But as for me, behold, ^(C1)I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your sight.

"Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring ^(C1)innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city and its inhabitants; for truly the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words ^(F1)so that you hear them."

Then the officials and all the people ^(C1)said to the priests and the prophets, "No ^(C2)death sentence for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God."

Then ^(C1)some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,

"^(F1)(C1)Micah of Moresheth used to prophesy in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, 'This is what the LORD of armies has said: "^(C2)Zion will be plowed like a field, And Jerusalem will become heaps of ruins, And the ^(C3)mountain of the house like the ^(F2)high places of a forest."'

"Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah actually put him to death? Did he not ^(C1)fear the LORD and plead for the favor of the LORD, and ^(C2)the LORD relented of the disaster which He had pronounced against them? But we are ^(C3)committing a great evil against our own lives!"

Indeed, there was also a man who used to prophesy in the name of the LORD, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from ^(C1)Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah.

When King Jehoiakim and all his warriors and all the officials heard his words, then the ^(C1)king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard about it, and he was afraid, so he ^(C2)fled and went to Egypt.

Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: ^(C1)Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him, to Egypt.

And they brought Uriah from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who ^(C1)killed him with a sword and threw his dead body into the ^(F1)burial place of the ^(F2)common people.

But the hand of ^(C1)Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was ^(C2)not handed over to the people to put him to death.

In the beginning of the reign of ^(F1)(C1)Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying—

this is what the LORD has said to me: "Make for yourself ^(C1)restraints and ^(C2)yokes and put them on your neck,

and send ^(F1)word to the king of ^(C1)Edom, the king of ^(C1)Moab, the king of the sons of ^(C1)Ammon, the king of ^(C1)Tyre, and to the king of ^(C1)Sidon ^(F2)by the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

"Order them to go to their masters, saying, 'This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: "This is what you shall say to your masters:

'^(C1)I have made the earth, mankind, and the animals which are on the face of the earth ^(C2)by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will ^(C3)give it to the one who is ^(F1)pleasing in My sight.

'And now I ^(C1)have handed all these lands over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^(C2)My servant, and I have also given him the ^(C3)animals of the field to serve him.

'^(C1)All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson ^(C2)until the time of his own land comes; then ^(C3)many nations and great kings will ^(F1)make him their servant.

'And it will be that the nation or the kingdom which ^(C1)will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the ^(C2)sword, with famine, and with plague,' declares the LORD, 'until I have eliminated ^(F1)it by his hand.

'And as for you, ^(C1)do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your ^(F1)dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers who talk to you, saying, "You will not serve the king of Babylon."

'For they are prophesying a ^(C1)lie to you in order to ^(C2)remove you far from your land; and I will drive you away and you will perish.

'But the nation that will ^(C1)bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will ^(C2)let remain on its land,' declares the LORD, 'and they will cultivate it and live in it.'"'"

I spoke words like all these to ^(C1)Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, "Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live!

"Why should you ^(C1)die, you and your people, by the sword, famine, and plague, as the LORD has spoken to the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

"So ^(C1)do not listen to the words of the prophets who talk to you, saying, 'You will not serve the king of Babylon,' for they are prophesying a ^(C2)lie to you;

for ^(C1)I have not sent them," declares the LORD, "but they are ^(C2)prophesying falsely in My name, so that I will ^(C3)drive you away and that you will perish, ^(C4)you and the prophets who prophesy to you."

Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying: "This is what the LORD says: 'Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, "Behold, the ^(C1)vessels of the LORD'S house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon"; for they are prophesying a ^(C2)lie to you.

'Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city ^(C1)become a place of ruins?

'But ^(C1)if they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, have them now ^(C2)plead with the LORD of armies that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD and the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem do not go to Babylon.

'For this is what the LORD of armies says concerning the ^(C1)pillars, concerning the ^(F1)sea, concerning the kettle stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city,

which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he ^(C1)led into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem—

'Yes, this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, says concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the LORD and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem:

"They will be ^(C1)brought to Babylon and will be there until the ^(C2)day I visit them," declares the LORD. "Then I will ^(C3)bring them ^(F1)back and restore them to this place."'"