UST JER Chapter 26

Jeremiah escaped death

26 Soon after Jehoiakim son of Josiah began to rule as king of Judah, Yahweh gave me, Jeremiah, this message. He said, 2 “This is what I, Yahweh, am telling you: Stand in the courtyard in front of my temple, and speak to all the people from the various cities in Judah who come there to worship me. Tell them everything that I command you to say to them. Do not leave anything out. 3 If you do tell them everything, perhaps they will pay attention and each of them will stop doing evil things. Then I will change my plans and not do to them the disastrous things that I was planning to do to them because of their evil actions.”

4 Yahweh also said, “Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh says: If you do not pay attention to me in order to obey the teachings that I have given to you through Moses, 5 and if you do not listen to what my servants the prophets are saying -- the prophets whom I have sent to you again and again, though you have not payed attention to them -- 6 then I will destroy this temple like I destroyed the one at Shiloh. And I will cause Jerusalem to be a place whose name people in every nation on the earth will say when they curse someone.”

7 The priests, the prophets, and many other people listened as Jeremiah spoke this message in the temple of Yahweh. 8 But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling them everything that Yahweh had commanded him to say to all the people, then the priests, the prophets, and all the people seized him and said, “You must certainly die! 9 You should not be claiming to speak with Yahweh’s authority and saying that this temple will end up the same as Shiloh and that this city will become so desolate that no one will live in it anymore!” All the people assembled against Jeremiah in the temple of Yahweh.

10 When the officials of Judah heard about all of this, they rushed up from the royal palace to the temple of Yahweh and sat down to judge the case at the entrance of the New Gate of Yahweh’s temple. 11 The priests and the false prophets told the officials and the other people who were there, “We should execute this man, because he has prophesied that this city will be destroyed, and you yourselves have heard him say it!”

12 Then Jeremiah replied to all the officials and to all the people. He said, “Yahweh sent me to prophesy everything that you have heard me say about what will happen to this temple and to this city. 13 So now, change your behavior and pay attention to what Yahweh your God has told you to do. If you do that, Yahweh will change his plans and not cause the disastrous things to happen to you that he said he would. 14 As for me, you have control over what happens to me. So you can do to me whatever you think is good and right. 15 However, know for certain, that if you kill me, then you will be guilty of killing someone who has not done anything wrong. You will cause yourselves to become guilty, and this city, and everyone who lives here. I tell you truthfully, that Yahweh has sent me to speak all these things in your hearing.”

16 Then the officials and the other people said to the priests and the false prophets, “Because Jeremiah has spoken to us with the authority of Yahweh our God, you should not execute him.”

17 Then some of the elders of the land stood up and spoke to all the people who had gathered there. They said, 18 “Think about what Micah, the prophet from the town of Moresheth, prophesied during the time that Hezekiah was the king of Judah. He told the people of Judah, ‘This is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says:

Enemies will plow up Zion as farmers plow a field.

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the temple hill will become an overgrown forest.’

19 King Hezekiah of Judah, and the people of Judah, certainly did not kill Micah for saying that! No! Instead, Hezekiah deeply respected Yahweh and pleaded with Yahweh to show mercy to them. So Yahweh changed his plans and did not send the terrible disaster that he had said he would send. If we kill Jeremiah, we will cause disastrous things to happen to us!”

20 And at that time there was also a man named Uriah son of Shemaiah from the town of Kiriath Jearim, who was also prophesying with Yahweh’s authority. He was predicting the same disasters for this city and this land that Jeremiah was predicting. 21 When King Jehoiakim, along with all his army officers and officials, heard what Uriah was saying, the king tried to kill Uriah. When Uriah heard about it, he became very afraid and ran away to Egypt. 22 Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Akbor along with several other men to Egypt to get Uriah. 23 They captured Uriah and brought him from Egypt back to Jerusalem to King Jehoiakim. The king then had a soldier kill Uriah with a sword. Then they buried his corpse in the place where the common people bury their dead.

24 However, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah and did not allow the mob to kill him.