Study Desk

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."'"

Now in the same year, ^(C1)in the beginning of the reign of ^(C2)Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, ^(C3)Hananiah the prophet the son of Azzur, who was from ^(C4)Gibeon, spoke to me at the house of the LORD in the sight of the priests and all the people, saying,

"^(C1)This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: 'I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

'Within two years I am going to bring back to this place ^(C1)all the vessels of the LORD'S house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from this place and brought to Babylon.

'I am ^(C1)also going to bring back to this place ^(C2)Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the ^(C3)exiles of Judah who went to Babylon,' declares the LORD, 'for I will break the ^(C4)yoke of the king of Babylon.'"

Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the sight of the priests and in the sight of all the people who were standing at the ^(C1)house of the LORD,

and Jeremiah the prophet said, "^(C1)Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD fulfill your words which you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the LORD'S house and all the exiles, from Babylon to this place.

"Yet ^(C1)hear now this word which I am going to speak ^(F1)so that you and all the people can hear it!

"The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times also ^(C1)prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms regarding war, disaster, and plague.

"As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, ^(C1)when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then that prophet will be known as one whom the LORD has truly sent."

Then Hananiah the prophet took the ^(C1)yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it.

Hananiah spoke in the sight of all the people, saying, "^(C1)This is what the LORD says: 'Even so within two full years I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.'" Then Jeremiah the prophet went his way.

Then the ^(C1)word of the LORD came to Jeremiah after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, saying,

"Go and speak to Hananiah, saying, 'This is what the LORD says: "You have broken the yokes of wood, but in their place you have made ^(C1)yokes of iron."

'For this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: "I have put a ^(C1)yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall ^(C2)serve him. And ^(C3)I have also given him the animals of the field."'"

Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, "Listen now, Hananiah: the LORD has not sent you, and ^(C1)you have made this people trust in a lie.

"Therefore, this is what the LORD says: '^(C1)Behold, I am going to ^(F1)remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to ^(C2)die, because you ^(C3)spoke falsely against the LORD.'"

So Hananiah the prophet died in the same year, in the seventh month.

Now these are the words of the ^(C1)letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

(This was after King ^(C1)Jeconiah and the ^(C2)queen mother, the high officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalworkers had departed from Jerusalem.)

The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of ^(C1)Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,

"This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles whom I have ^(C1)sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:

'^(C1)Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their ^(F1)produce.

'Take ^(C1)wives and father sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may give birth to sons and daughters; and grow in numbers there and do not decrease.

'^(C1)Seek the ^(F1)prosperity of the city where I have sent you into exile, and ^(C2)pray to the LORD in its behalf; for ^(F2)in its ^(F1)prosperity will be your ^(F1)prosperity.'

"For this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: 'Do not let your ^(C1)prophets who are in your midst or your diviners ^(C2)deceive you, and do not listen to their interpretations of ^(C3)your dreams which you dream.

'For they ^(C1)prophesy falsely to you in My name; ^(C2)I have not sent them,' declares the LORD.

"For this is what the LORD says: 'When ^(C1)seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My ^(C2)good word to you, to bring you back to this place.

'For I know the ^(C1)plans that I ^(F1)have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for ^(F2)(C2)prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a ^(C3)hope.

'Then you will ^(C1)call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will ^(C2)listen to you.

'And you will ^(C1)seek Me and find Me when you ^(C2)search for Me with all your heart.

'I will let Myself be ^(C1)found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will ^(C2)restore your fortunes and ^(C3)gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will ^(C4)bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'

"Because you have said, 'The LORD has raised up ^(C1)prophets for us in Babylon'—

for this is what the LORD says concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who live in this city, your brothers who did ^(C1)not go with you into exile—

this is what the LORD of armies says: 'Behold, I am sending upon them the ^(C1)sword, famine, and plague; and I will make them like ^(C2)rotten figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness.

'I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with plague; and I will ^(C1)make them an object of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a ^(C2)curse and an object of horror and ^(F1)(C3)hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations where I have driven them,

because they have ^(C1)not listened to My words,' declares the LORD, 'which I sent to them again and again by ^(C2)My servants the prophets; but you did not listen,' declares the LORD.

'You, therefore, hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles, whom I have ^(C1)sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

'This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are ^(C1)prophesying to you falsely in My name: "Behold, I am going to hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your eyes.

"Because of them a ^(C1)curse will be ^(F1)used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, 'May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon ^(C2)roasted in the fire,'

because they ^(C1)acted ^(F1)foolishly in Israel, and ^(C2)committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and falsely ^(C3)spoke words in My name which I did not command them. I am He who ^(C4)knows, and a witness," declares the LORD.'"

Now you shall speak to ^(C1)Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,

"This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: 'Because you have sent ^(C1)letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to ^(C2)the priest Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying,

"The LORD has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the ^(F1)(C1)overseer of the house of the LORD for every ^(C2)insane person who ^(C3)prophesies, to ^(C4)put him in the stocks and in the iron collar.

"So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of ^(C1)Anathoth who prophesies to you,

seeing that he has ^(C1)sent word to us in Babylon, saying, '^(F1)The exile will be ^(C2)long; ^(C3)build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their ^(F2)produce'?"'"

Now ^(C1)Zephaniah the priest read this letter ^(F1)to Jeremiah the prophet.

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

"Send word to ^(C1)all the exiles, saying, 'This is what the LORD says concerning ^(C2)Shemaiah the Nehelamite: "Because Shemaiah has ^(C3)prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has ^(C4)made you trust in a lie,"

therefore this is what the LORD says: "Behold, I am going to ^(C1)punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his ^(F1)descendants; he will ^(C2)not have anyone living among this people, ^(C3)and he will not see the good that I am going to do for My people," declares the LORD, "because he has ^(C4)spoken falsely against the LORD."'"

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: '^(C1)Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.

'For behold, ^(C1)days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will ^(C2)restore the fortunes of My people ^(C3)Israel and Judah.' The LORD says, 'I will also ^(C4)bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall take possession of it.'"

Now these are the words which the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah:

"For this is what the LORD says: '^(F1)I have heard a sound of ^(C1)terror, Of fear, and there is no peace.

-'Ask now, and see If a male can give birth. Why do I see every man With his hands on his waist, ^(C1)as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale?

-'Woe, for that ^(C1)day is great, There is ^(C2)none like it; And it is the time of Jacob's ^(C3)distress, Yet he will be ^(C4)saved from it.

'It shall come about on that day,' declares the LORD of armies, 'that I will ^(C1)break his yoke from ^(F1)their necks and will tear to pieces ^(F2)their ^(C2)restraints; and strangers will no longer ^(C3)make ^(F3)them their slaves.

'But they shall serve the LORD their God and ^(C1)David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

-'And ^(C1)do not fear, Jacob My servant,' declares the LORD, 'And do not be dismayed, Israel; For behold, I am going to save you ^(C2)from far away, And your ^(F1)descendants from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and be ^(C3)at peace, without anxiety, And ^(C4)no one will make him afraid.

-'For ^(C1)I am with you,' declares the LORD, 'to save you; For I will completely ^(C2)destroy all the nations where I have scattered you, Only I will ^(C3)not destroy you completely. But I will ^(C4)discipline you fairly And will by no means leave you unpunished.'

"For this is what the LORD says: 'Your broken limb is irreparable, And your ^(C1)wound is incurable.

-'There is no one to plead your cause; No healing for your sore, ^(C1)No recovery for you.

-'All your ^(C1)lovers have forgotten you, They do not seek you; For I have ^(C2)wounded you with the wound of an enemy, With the ^(C3)punishment of a ^(C4)cruel one, Because your ^(C5)wrongdoing is great, And your ^(C6)sins are numerous.

-'Why do you cry out over your injury? Your pain is incurable. Because your wrongdoing is great And your sins are numerous, I have done these things to you.

-'Therefore all who ^(C1)devour you will be devoured; And all your adversaries, every one of them, ^(C2)will go into captivity; And those who plunder you will become plunder, And all who plunder you I will turn into plunder.

-'For I will ^(F1)restore you to ^(F2)(C1)health And I will heal you of your wounds,' declares the LORD, 'Because they have called you an ^(C2)outcast, saying: "It is Zion; no one ^(F3)cares for her."'

"This is what the LORD says: 'Behold, I will ^(C1)restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob And ^(C2)have compassion on his dwellings; And the ^(C3)city will be rebuilt on its ruins, And the ^(C4)palace will stand on its rightful place.

-'From them will come a ^(C1)song of thanksgiving And the voices of those who ^(F1)(C2)celebrate; And I will ^(C3)multiply them and they will not decrease; I will ^(C4)honor them and they will not be insignificant.

-'^(F1)Their children also will be as before, And ^(F2)their congregation will be ^(C1)established before Me; And I will punish all ^(F2)their oppressors.

-'^(F1)Their ^(C1)leader shall be one of them, And ^(F1)their ruler will come out from ^(F1)their midst; And I will ^(C2)bring him near and he shall approach Me; For ^(F2)who would dare to risk his life to ^(C3)approach Me?' declares the LORD.

'You shall be ^(C1)My people, And I will be your God.'"

Behold, the ^(C1)tempest of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, A ^(F1)sweeping tempest; It will whirl upon the head of the wicked.

The ^(C1)fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has performed and accomplished The intent of His heart. In the ^(C2)latter days you will understand this.

"At that time," declares the LORD, "I will be the ^(C1)God of all the ^(C2)families of Israel, and they shall be My people."

This is what the LORD says: "The people who survived the sword ^(C1)Found grace in the wilderness— Israel, when it went to ^(C2)find its rest."

The LORD appeared to ^(F1)him ^(F2)long ago, saying, "I have ^(C1)loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you out with ^(C2)kindness.

-"^(C1)I will build you again and you will be rebuilt, Virgin of Israel! You will ^(F1)take up your ^(C2)tambourines again, And go out to the dances of the ^(C3)revelers.

-"Again you will ^(C1)plant vineyards On the ^(F1)hills of Samaria; The planters will plant And will ^(F2)enjoy the fruit.

-"For there will be a day when watchmen On the hills of Ephraim call out, 'Arise, and ^(C1)let's go up to Zion, To the LORD our God.'"

For this is what the LORD says: "^(C1)Sing aloud with joy for Jacob, And be joyful with the ^(F1)(C2)chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, 'LORD, ^(C3)save Your people, The ^(C4)remnant of Israel!'

-"Behold, I am ^(C1)bringing them from the north country, And I will ^(C2)gather them from the remote parts of the earth, Among them those who are ^(C3)blind and those who ^(C4)limp, The pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; They will return here as a great assembly.

-"^(C1)They will come with weeping, And by pleading I will bring them; I will lead them by ^(C2)streams of waters, On a straight path on which they will ^(C3)not stumble; For I am a ^(C4)father to Israel, And Ephraim is ^(C5)My firstborn."

Hear the word of the LORD, you nations, And declare it in the ^(C1)coastlands far away, And say, "He who scattered Israel will ^(C2)gather him, And He will keep him as a ^(C3)shepherd keeps his flock."

For the LORD has ^(C1)ransomed Jacob And redeemed him from the hand of him who was ^(C2)stronger than he.

"They will ^(C1)come and shout for joy on the ^(C2)height of Zion, And they will be ^(C3)radiant over the ^(F1)bounty of the LORD— Over the ^(C4)grain, the new wine, the oil, And over the young of the ^(C5)flock and the herd. And their life will be like a ^(C6)watered garden, And they will ^(C7)never languish again.

-"Then the virgin will rejoice in the ^(C1)dance, And the young men and the old together; For I will ^(C2)turn their mourning into joy And comfort them, and give them ^(C3)joy for their sorrow.

-"I will refresh the soul of the priests with ^(F1)abundance, And My people will be ^(C1)satisfied with My goodness," declares the LORD.

This is what the LORD says: "^(C1)A voice is heard in ^(C2)Ramah, Lamenting and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She ^(C3)refuses to be comforted for her children, Because ^(C4)they are no more."

This is what the LORD says: "^(C1)Restrain your voice from weeping And your eyes from tears; For your ^(C2)work will be rewarded," declares the LORD, "And they will ^(C3)return from the land of the enemy.

-"There is ^(C1)hope for your future," declares the LORD, "And your children will return to their own territory.

-"I have certainly heard Ephraim ^(C1)grieving, 'You have ^(C2)disciplined me, and I was corrected, Like an untrained ^(C3)calf; ^(C4)Bring me back that I may be restored, For You are the LORD my God.

-'For after I turned back, I ^(C1)repented; And after I was instructed, I ^(F1)(C2)slapped my thigh; I was ^(C3)ashamed and also humiliated Because I bore the shame of my youth.'

-"Is ^(C1)Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him; Therefore My ^(F1)(C2)heart yearns for him; I will certainly ^(C3)have mercy on him," declares the LORD.

"Set up roadmarks for yourself, Place guideposts for yourself; ^(C1)Direct your ^(F1)mind to the highway, The way by which you went. ^(C2)Return, O virgin of Israel, Return to these your cities.

-"How long will you waver, You ^(C1)rebellious daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: A woman will shelter a man."

This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: "Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I ^(C1)restore their fortunes, 'The LORD bless you, O ^(C2)place of righteousness, O ^(C3)holy hill!'

"Judah and all its cities will ^(C1)live together in it, the farmers and those who travel with flocks.

"^(C1)For I give plenty of water to the weary ones, and ^(F1)refresh everyone who languishes."

At this I ^(C1)awoke and looked, and my ^(C2)sleep had been pleasant to me.

"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will ^(C1)sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of mankind and the seed of animals.

"And just as I have ^(C1)watched over them to ^(C2)uproot them, tear them down, ruin, destroy, and bring disaster on them, so I will watch over them to ^(C3)build and to plant them," declares the LORD.

"In those days they will no longer say, '^(C1)The fathers have eaten sour grapes, ^(F1)But it is the children's teeth that have become blunt.'

"But ^(C1)everyone will die for his own wrongdoing; each person who eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will become blunt.

"^(C1)Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a ^(C2)new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

not like the ^(C1)covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I ^(C2)took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My ^(C3)covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.

"For ^(C1)this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD: "^(C2)I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and ^(C3)I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

"They will ^(C1)not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all ^(C2)know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will ^(C3)forgive their wrongdoing, and their ^(C4)sin I will no longer remember."

This is what the LORD says, He who ^(C1)gives the sun for light by day And the ^(F1)fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who ^(C2)stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— ^(C3)The LORD of armies is His name:

"^(C1)If ^(F1)this fixed order departs From Me," declares the LORD, "Then the descendants of Israel also will ^(C2)cease To be a nation before Me ^(F2)forever."

This is what the LORD says: "^(C1)If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also ^(C2)reject all the descendants of Israel For everything that they have done," declares the LORD.

"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when the ^(C1)city will be rebuilt for the LORD from the ^(C2)Tower of Hananel to the ^(C3)Corner Gate.

"The ^(C1)measuring line will go out farther straight ahead, to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah.

"And ^(C1)the entire valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook ^(C2)Kidron to the corner of the ^(C3)Horse Gate toward the east, shall be ^(C4)holy to the LORD; it will not be uprooted or overthrown ever again."