OEB by section JER 26:1

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No Hope of Speedy Release from Babylon

The Babylonian Yoke will not be soon or easily Broken

27 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, Jeremiah received from Jehovah the message which follows. 2 Thus spoke Jehovah: Make thongs and bars and put them on thy neck, 3 and send a message to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon, through their ambassadors who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah, king of Judah, 4 and bid them say to their masters, "Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Convey this message to your masters. 5 I have made the earth, with man and beast on the face of it, by My great power and outstretched arm, and I give it to whomsoever I please. 6 At the moment I have given all these lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, My servant; the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him.

7 All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, till the time of his own land shall come – then many nations and great kings shall make him serve.

8 The nation and the kingdom which refuses to serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and to put their necks to the yoke of the king of Babylon – that nation, saith Jehovah, I will punish with sword, famine and pestilence, till I have delivered them into his hands.

9 As for yourselves, do not listen to your prophets, diviners, dreamers, soothsayers, or sorcerers, who assure you that you will not be subject to the king of Babylon. 10 It is a lie that they preach to you, and it will end in your removal from your own land; for I will indeed drive you away and ye shall perish. 11 But the nation that brings its neck to the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will leave on their own soil, which they shall continue to till and occupy."

12 A similar message I gave to Zedekiah, king of Judah, "If," said I, "you bring your neck to the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, you will be spared. 13 Why should you and your people die by the sword, famine and pestilence, with which Jehovah has threatened the nation that refuses to serve the king of Babylon? 14 Do not listen to the prophets when they tell you that you will not be subject to the king of Babylon: 15 they are preaching to you a lie. I have not sent them, saith Jehovah: it is a lie that they are preaching to you in My name, and it can only end in your being driven out and perishing – you and the prophets that preach to you."

16 And the message that I gave to the priests and to all this people was this: "Thus saith Jehovah: Do not listen to the prophets when they tell you that the vessels of the Temple will soon be brought back from Babylon. 17 They are preaching to you a lie: do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and you will be spared: why should this city become a ruin? 18 But if they are real prophets with a real message from Jehovah, let them entreat Jehovah of Hosts not to allow the vessels that are left in the Temple and in the royal palace at Jerusalem, to be taken to Babylon. 19 For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts concerning the pillars and the sea and the stands and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20 which were not taken by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, when he carried Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem, from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21 Yes, thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the Temple and in the royal palace and at Jerusalem; 22 To Babylon they shall be brought, and there they shall remain till the day that I visit them, saith Jehovah; then I will bring them up and restore them to this place."

The Clash between the False Prophet and the True

28 The same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who belonged to Gibeon, addressed me as follows in the Temple in the presence of the priests and of all the people. 2 "Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: ’I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years’ time I will bring back to this place all the Temple vessels that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon took from this place and carried to Babylon; 4 and Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah that have gone to Babylon, I will bring back to this place, saith Jehovah; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’"

5 Then Jeremiah the prophet replied to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and of all the people that were standing in the Temple; 6 and Jeremiah the prophet said, "Amen! Jehovah do so! May Johevah fulfil your prophecy and bring back the Temple vessels and all the exiles from Babylon to this place! 7 I ask you, however to listen to this word that I am about to speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 From the beginning the prophets who preceded you and me in their messages concerning many lands and mighty kingdoms, prophesied war. 9 If a prophet prophesies peace, it is only when his word has been fulfilled that you can be sure that he has had a real commission from Jehovah." 10 Then Hananiah took the bar off Jeremiah’s neck, broke it, 11 and declared in the presence of all the people, "Thus saith Jehovah: ’Within two years’ time, I will similarly break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, off the necks of all the nations.’" Then Jeremiah the prophet went away.

12 But after Hananiah had broken the bar off Jeremiah’s neck, there came to Jeremiah this message from Jehovah: 13 "Go and say to Hananiah, Thus saith Jehovah, The wooden bar you have indeed broken,but I will replace it with a bar of iron. 14 For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: The yoke that I will put on the necks of all these nations will be made of iron – a yoke of service to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon: for serve him they shall. I have also given him the beasts of the field." 15 Then Jeremiah said to Hananiah, "Listen, Hananiah. You have no commission from Jehovah: you are making this people trust a lie. 16 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: ’Mark this well: I will dismiss thee from the face of the earth. This very year thou shalt die; for thy words are a disloyalty to Jehovah.’" 17 And that very year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.

Jeremiah Exhorts the Exiles to settle down in Babylon

29 The following is a copy of the letter sent from Jerusalem by Jeremiah the prophet to the elders, the priests, the prophets, and all the people, who had been carried from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar to exile in Babylon – 2 after the surrender of Jeconiah the king, and the queen-mother, and the eunuchs, and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen and smiths– 3 the letter being sent by the hands of Eleasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, who had been despatched to Babylon to Nebuchanezzar, king of Babylon, by Zedekiah, king of Judah:

4 "Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have carried from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and settle; plant gardens and eat the fruit of them; take wives and rear families; 6 take wives also for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may have sons and daughters; increase your numbers and do not let them diminish. 7 And strive for the welfare of the country to which I have brought you as exiles. Pray for it to Jehovah; for your own welfare and hers are bound up together. 8 For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let yourselves be beguiled by the prophets and diviners in your midst, and do not listen to the dreams 9 they dream; for it is a lie that they preach to you in My name – they have no commission from Me, saith Jehovah.

10 For thus saith Jehovah: As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are accomplished, I will visit you and bring you back to this place, in fulfilment of the gracious promise I made you. 11 For I know the thoughts I cherish towards you – thoughts of weal and not of woe – to bestow upon you a future and a hope. 12 When you call, I will answer you, and I will listen to your prayer. 13 If ye seek Me ye shall find Me. If ye seek Me with all your heart, 14 I will reveal Myself to you, saith Jehovah; and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have driven you, saith Jehovah, and I will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile. 15 But Jehovah, you say, has raised up for you prophets in Babylon.

16 For thus saith Jehovah concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people whose home is in this city – those brethren of yours who have not had to accompany you into exile. 17 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: See! I will send the sword, the famine and the pestilence among them, and I will make them like figs that are too horribly bad to eat. 18 I will hunt them with sword, famine, and pestilence and I will make them an object of consternation to every kingdom in the world, and object of execration and horror, of scorn and insult among all the nations to which I have driven them; 19 because, saith Jehovah, they refused to listen to the messages I sent them early and late through My servants the prophets – yes, they refused to listen, saith Jehovah. 20 See, then, that ye listen to Jehovah’s message, all of you exiles whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.

21 Well, thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who preach to you a lie in My name. Mark this: I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he will slay them before your eyes; 22 and their fate shall be adopted by all the exiles of Judah in Babylon as a model for imprecation. "Jehovah make thee," they will say, "like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire," 23 because they wrought impious folly in Israel, in committing adultery with their neighbours’ wives and delivering in My name lying messages which I never gave them. Well I know it, saith Jehovah, and I am witness."

24 Touching the message of Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, to be delivered by Jeremiah concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam. 25 This is the man who sent a letter in his own name to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest. 26 "Jehovah," he wrote, "has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, to exercise an oversight in the Temple over all that play the mad prophet and the ecstatic, and to put all such in the stocks and in the iron collar. 27 Why then did you not rebuke Jeremiah of Anathoth, who has been playing the mad prophet among you? 28 For he has sent a message to us in Babylon, maintaining that the exile would be long, and urging us to build houses and settle, and to plant gardens and eat the fruit of them." 29 Now Zephaniah the priest read the letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.

30 Then there came to Jeremiah this message from Jehovah: 31 Send to all the exiles and say, Thus saith Jehovah concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam: Shemaiah has been prophesying to you without any commission from Me and has made you trust in a lie. 32 For this reason, therefore– thus saith Jehovah – I will punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants: not a man shall he have among you who will ever see the good fortune I will bring you, saith Jehovah: for his words are a disloyalty to Jehovah.