The good figs and the bad figs

24 After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had taken away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, along with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the smiths from Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon, Yahweh showed me something. I saw two baskets of figs that someone had placed in front of the temple of Yahweh. 2 One basket had very good figs in it, like figs that ripen early in the season. The other basket had very bad figs in it that no one could eat because they were so bad.

3 Then Yahweh said to me, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”

I replied, “Figs. The good figs are very good, and the bad figs are very bad, so bad that no one could eat them.”

4 Then Yahweh gave me this message. He said, 5 “This is what I Yahweh, the God of the Israelite people, say: Like these good figs, similarly I will regard favorably the people of Judah whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will watch over them for the purpose of doing good things for them, and I will cause them to return to this land. I will establish them and not destroy them. I will cause them to prosper, and I will not remove them. 7 I will enable them to desire to know me, that I am Yahweh. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me sincerely.

8 But, this is also what I, Yahweh, say: Like the bad figs that are so bad that people cannot eat them and instead get rid of them, so I will treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, those who still remain in Jerusalem, those who are still living in this land, and those who have gone to live in the land of Egypt. 9 I will deliver them over so that horrible things that will harm them will happen to them with the result that people in every kingdom on the earth will reproach them, and they will be the subject of proverbs, and taunts, and curses, in all the places where I will exile them. 10 I will cause them to experience wars and famines and diseases, until they have disappeared from the land that I gave to them and to their ancestors.”

25 Yahweh gave this message to me, Jeremiah, about all the people of Judah. This happened during the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah ruled as king of Judah, which was also the first year that Nebuchadnezzar ruled as king of Babylon. 2 I, Jeremiah, a prophet of Yahweh, spoke this message to all the people of Judah and to all the people living in Jerusalem. I said, 3 “For twenty-three years Yahweh has been giving me messages —from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon ruled as king of Judah until today. I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.

4 Yahweh also, repeatedly, sent to you all his other prophets who serve him, but you did not heed their warnings. You refused to pay attention. 5 Those prophets said, ‘Each of you must stop your evil habits and stop doing evil things. If you do that, you will be able to continue living in this land that Yahweh gave to you and to your ancestors to be yours forever. 6 Do not cause me, Yahweh to become angry by serving and worshiping idols that you have made with your hands. If you do not do those things, I will not cause harmful things to happen to you.’

7 Yahweh says, ‘Yet you refused to pay attention to the messages that I gave my prophets, and as a result you made me very angry by worshiping the idols that you made. That caused harmful things to happen to you.

8 Therefore, Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says this: Because you have not paid attention to what I said to you through my prophets, 9 know that I am about to summon all the people groups who live north of you’ —this is what I,Yahweh say — ‘I will also summon my servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. I will bring them against this land and against the people living in it and against the people of all of these surrounding nations and I will completely destroy them. I will make them an object of horror and scorn, and they will stay in ruins forever. 10 I will cause happy singing and laughing to cease in your land. There will no longer be bridegrooms or brides talking joyfully. No one will hear the grinding of millstones, and there will not be people lighting lamps in the evening. 11 This entire land will become an empty ruin, and the people of these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

12 Then, when seventy years have passed, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for the wrong things they have done’ —this is what Yahweh says. ‘I will also punish the land of the Chaldeans and make it an empty ruin forever. 13 I will cause them to experience everything that I have said I would do to it —everything that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations, everything that my servant wrote in this book. 14 The people of many nations and powerful kings will then force the Babylonians to serve them, like the people of Babylonia caused my people to become slaves. I will give the Babylonians what they deserve for the things they have done.’ ”

15 Then Yahweh, the God of us Israelites, gave me a vision. In the vision he was holding a cup of wine. He said this to me: “Take this cup from my hand. The wine in it represents the punishment I am about to send. Go and make all the nations drink from it—all the nations to which I am sending you. 16 When they drink it, they will stagger and will act like crazy people because of the wars that I am going to send against them.” 17 So I took the cup from Yahweh, and I made the people of all the nations to which Yahweh had sent me, drink from it. 18 First I went to Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah, and the king and the officials. And, starting from that day, they all eventually lost their positions of authority and became people whom others ridiculed, and they became the object of peoples curses. 19 In the vision I then went to Egypt and gave some of the wine to Pharaoh king of Egypt, along with his servants, his officials, and all his people, 20 and all the foreigners living in Egypt. In the vision I also went to the land of Uz and gave some of the wine to all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines —those in Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the few people remaining in Ashdod. 21 I also gave some of the wine to the people of Edom, Moab, and the to the Ammonites. 22 I also gave some of the wine to all the kings of Tyre and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands across the sea. 23 In the vision I then went to the people of Dedan, Tema, and Buz and gave them some of the wine, and all those who cut their hair short on the sides. 24 I also gave all the kings of Arabia some of the wine, and all the kings of the foreign people who live in the wilderness. 25 I also gave all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media some of the wine. 26 I also gave all the kings of the north some of the wine, both those near and those far away from Israel, one after another —I went to all the kingdoms on the earth. And finally in my vision, I went to the king of Babylon and gave him the wine that symbolized that Yahweh would punish the people of Babylon because he was angry with them and he shall drink it after the other kings.

27 “Then in the vision Yahweh said to me, tell them, 'Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God of Israel, says this: Drink and become drunk and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, because of the wars that I am sending against you.’ 28 If any of them refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink, tell them, ‘Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says this: You absolutely must drink! 29 Pay attention! I am already starting to cause the people of my own city to experience disaster and I will certainly punish you! I will punish you, for I am causing there to be wars in all the nations on the earth” —this is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says.

30 “Now prophesy all these words to them and say to them,

‘Yahweh will shout loudly from heaven above,

from the holy place where he lives he will raise his voice.

He will shout loudly against the people of his own land, so loudly that it will sound like the roar of a lion.

He will shout to everyone on the earth, like people shout triumphantly when they are treading on grapes to make juice for wine.

31 Even people in the farthest places on earth will hear the sound of his shouting,

because Yahweh will bring charges against the nations.

He will say why he will judge and punish people from all nations.

He will cause enemies to kill wicked people with swords’ ” —this is what Yahweh says.

32 Tell them that Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says this:

“Pay attention! There will be disasters in one nation after another.

I am preparing to punish them like a great storm

that starts in the most distant places on the earth.

33 On that day, the people whom Yahweh kills

will lie everywhere, from one end of the earth to the other.

No one will mourn for them. No one will gather them up

or bury them. Their bodies will rot on the ground like manure.

34 Cry and wail, you leaders who are supposed to take care of my people like shepherds care for their flock!

You should fall down and roll in the dust, you leaders who should take care of my people as if they were your flock and you were their shepherd!

The time has come for your enemies to slaughter you and scatter you.

I will allow things to happen to you that will ruin you, like a precious vessel is ruined that falls to the ground and is shattered.

35 The leaders who are supposed to be caring for my people

will have nowhere to hide

and no way to escape.

36 People will hear your leaders, who are supposed to be caring for my people like a shepherd cares for his flock, crying out and wailing

because I, Yahweh, am ruining your nation.

37 I will allow your enemies to destroy your peaceful fields,

because I, Yahweh, am very angry.

38 I, Yahweh have left my dwelling place, like a lion leaves his lair to attack other animals,

and I will cause your land to become an empty ruin

because of the fierceness of your enemies

and because Yahweh is fiercely angry with you.”

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.

27 Soon after Zedekiah became the king of Judah, Yahweh gave this message to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “This is what Yahweh said to me: ‘Make an ox yoke of wooden bars and fasten it around your neck with leather straps. 3 Then send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through the ambassadors from those countries who have come to Jerusalem to meet with King Zedekiah. 4 Tell the ambassadors to give this message to their kings: “This is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God whom the Israelite people worship, says. You must say this to your kings: 5 ‘Because I am very powerful was able to make the earth and the people and the animals that live on it and I give the earth to whoever I please. 6 Now I have allowed my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to control all these lands. I have also given him the wild animals to use as he wishes. 7 The people of all the nations will serve him, and then his son after him, and then his grandson after him, until the time comes for his own nation to serve the nations that conquer it. Then many nations and great kings will conquer him and make him serve them.

8 I will punish any nation or kingdom that refuses to submit to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and refuses to serve him. I will cause those people to experience war, famine, and diseases”—this is what Yahweh declares—“until I have used Nebuchadnezzar to destroy them completely.

9 So do not listen to your false prophets, your fortune-tellers, your dream interpreters, your mediums, or your sorcerers. They keep telling you, ‘The king of Babylon will not conquer our nation.’ 10 Those people are prophesying lies to you, which will result in removing you far away from your home. I will drive you out, and you will die in a foreign land. 11 However, if the people of any nation submit to the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let them remain in their own land”—this is what Yahweh declares—“and they will farm it and live in it.’ ” ’ ”

12 Then I gave the same message to King Zedekiah of Judah. I said to him, “Submit to the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and then you will stay alive. 13 There is no reason for you and your people to die by war, famine, and disease, which is what Yahweh has said will happen to any nation that refuses to serve the king of Babylon. 14 Do not pay attention to the prophets who are saying to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not conquer your country,’ because they are prophesying lies to you. 15 I did not send those prophets”—this is what Yahweh declares—“and yet they are saying that I gave them their messages, but they are lying. The result will be that I will drive you out of your land, and you will die, both you and those false prophets who are prophesying lies to you.”

16 Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, and I said, “This is what Yahweh says: Do not pay attention to what your false prophets say, who tell you, ‘Look, someone will bring back from Babylon the articles from Yahweh’s temple very soon,’ because they are prophesying lies to you. 17 Do not pay attention to them. Serve the king of Babylon and then he will not kill you. There is no reason for this entire city to become a pile of ruins.

18 If those men are really prophets who speak messages from me, then tell them to please plead with me, the commander of the heavenly armies, so that I will not allow soldiers from Babylon to carry off to Babylon the articles that still remain in my temple, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in the rest of Jerusalem.”

19 I, Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, say this about the pillars that stand in front of the temple, the large bronze water basin, the bronze stands, and all the other articles that are still in this city. 20 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon left those things here when he took Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, away from Jerusalem to Babylon as a prisoner, along with all the leading people of Judah and Jerusalem. 21 This is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God whom the Israelite people worship, says about the valuable articles that still remain in Yahweh’s temple and in the king’s palace, and in Jerusalem: 22 “Babylonian soldiers will bring them to Babylon. They will stay there until the day that I decide to give them my attention again”—this is what Yahweh declares—“and then I will bring them back and return them to this place.”

28 In the fifth month of the fourth year after Zedekiah began to rule as king of Judah, Hananiah the son of Azzur spoke to me. Hananiah, who claimed to be a prophet and was from the city of Gibeon spoke to me in the temple of Yahweh while the priests and all the people watched. He said, 2 “This is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have ended the control that the king of Babylon has over you. 3 Before two years have ended, I will bring back to this place all the objects from the temple of Yahweh that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from here and carried to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, along with all the people of Judah who went to Babylon as captives.’ This is what Yahweh declares. ‘I will do this because I will end the control that the king of Babylon has over you.’ ”

5 Then Jeremiah the prophet replied to Hananiah the prophet while the priests and all the people who stood in the temple of Yahweh watched. 6 Jeremiah the prophet said, “Yes, may it be so! I hope Yahweh does that! I hope Yahweh fulfills everything that you have prophesied, so that people bring back from Babylon the objects from the temple of Yahweh and bring back all the people who are captive there. 7 Nevertheless, listen to what I am saying in your presence and in the presence of all the people: 8 The prophets who preceded me and you, prophesied long ago that many nations and powerful kingdoms would experience wars, terrible suffering, and deadly diseases. 9 So when a prophet prophesies that things will go well, only when what that prophet says actually happens will people recognize that Yahweh truly sent him.

10 Then Hananiah the prophet grabbed the yoke bar from Jeremiah’s neck and broke it. The yoke bar represented the control that Babylon had over the nations. 11 Then Hananiah spoke while all the people watched. He said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Just as Hananiah has broken this yoke bar, within two full years I will end the control that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has over all the nations.’ ” After Hananiah said that, Jeremiah the prophet left.

12 After Hananiah the prophet broke the yoke bar that had been on Jeremiah the prophet’s neck, Yahweh gave this message to Jeremiah: 13 “Go and tell Hananiah that this is what Yahweh says: ‘You broke yoke bars made of wood, but I will replace them with yoke bars made of iron. 14 I, Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God of Israel, say this: I have forced all these nations to serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, as though they had iron yoke bars on their necks, and they will serve him. And I have given him control over the wild animals as well.’ ”

15 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, “Please pay attention to me, Hananiah! Yahweh did not send you and you have certainly told lies to these people, and they have believed your lies. 16 So this is what Yahweh says: ‘I am about to make you die. You will die this year, because you have encouraged people to rebel against Yahweh.’ ”

17 Hananiah the prophet died in the seventh month of that same year.

1-2 1-2After King Jeconiah, his mother, his court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen and metalworkers had left Jerusalem and gone to Babylon, Jeremiah the prophet wrote a letter and sent it from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the other people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

3 He sent the letter through Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah the king of Judah was sending to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. This is what the letter said:

4 Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God of Israel, says this to all of you whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses there and live in them. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage so that they also have children. Increase in number there; do not become fewer. 7 Also, do things that will cause things to go well for the people who live in the city where I have sent you to live, and pray to Yahweh for that city, because when things go well for that city, things will also go well for you.

8 Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God of Israel, says this: Do not let your prophets who are among you and your fortune-tellers trick you. Do not pay attention to the dreams that you are encouraging yourselves to dream, 9 because those prophets are lying to you and claiming to speak for me. I did not send them.” That is what Yahweh has declared.

10 “Yahweh says this: When seventy years have passed for Babylon, I will help you and keep my good promise to you by bringing you back to this place. 11 I know what I intend to do for you,” Yahweh has declared. “I intend to help you prosper, not to harm you. I intend to give you a hopeful future. 12 At that time you will call out to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will pay attention to you. 13 You will earnestly desire for me to help you and you will find me when you pursue me with complete sincerity. 14 I will let you find me,” Yahweh has declared. “I will bring you back from captivity and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have scattered you,” Yahweh has declared. “I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you away.”

15 I am saying this because you have said, “Yahweh has appointed prophets for us here in Babylon.” 16 This is what Yahweh says about the king who sits on David’s throne and about all the people who are living in this city -- your relatives who did not go into exile with you. 17 Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says this: “Pay attention! I am sending war, famine, and disease against them. I will make them like figs that are so bad that no one can eat them. 18 I am about to cause them to experience wars, famines, and diseases. I will make the people of every kingdom on earth horrified when they hear about them. Among all the nations where I have scattered them, they will be the object of peoples curses, and people will feel shocked, will whistle in contempt, and will mock them. 19 I will do this because those people refused to pay attention to what I said to them,” Yahweh has declared, “messages that I persistently gave to my prophets whom I sent to them. But you exiles also did not pay attention.” That is what Yahweh has declared.

20 So listen to what Yahweh says, all of you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21 Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God of Israel, says this about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are speaking lies to you and claiming to speak for me: “I am about to allow the soldiers of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, to seize them and take them to King Nebuchadnezzar, and he will execute them while you are watching. 22 All you exiles from Judah in Babylon will say this when you curse someone, ‘I hope Yahweh will do to you what he did to Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in a fire!’ 23 That will happen because they did something disgraceful among the Israelite people; they committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and they spoke lies, claiming to speak for me, even though I never told them to say those things. I know about this, and I can testify to it,” Yahweh has declared.

24 Yahweh told me to say this to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, 25 “Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God of Israel, says this: Because you sent letters on your own authority to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, and to all the other priests, and you wrote:

26 ‘Yahweh has appointed you as priest in place of Jehoiada the priest, to be in charge of overseeing Yahweh’s temple. You should put into the stocks and the iron collar anyone who acts like a crazy person and claims to be a prophet. 27 So why haven’t you done anything to stop Jeremiah from the town of Anathoth, who claims to be a prophet among you? 28 For because of this he sent a message to us here in Babylon, saying, “Your exile will last a long time. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.” ’ 29 And when Zephaniah the priest received the letter he brought it to me and read it in my presence.

30 Then Yahweh gave this message to Jeremiah. Yahweh said, 31 “Send a message to all the exiles and tell them, ‘Yahweh says this about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you even though I did not send him, and he has caused you to trust in lies, 32 because of that Yahweh says: know that I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. None of his descendants will live among this people, and he will not experience the good things that I will do for my people,’ ” Yahweh has declared, “’because he has incited you to rebel against Yahweh.’ ”

30 Yahweh gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “This is what I, Yahweh, the God whom the people of Israel worship, am telling you. You Jeremiah should write down in a scroll everything that I have told you. 3 I want you to know that a time is coming when I will free my people Israel and Judah from captivity in Babylon.” This is what Yahweh declared. He also said, “I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors, and they will take possession of it again.”

4 Yahweh gave this message to me, Jeremiah regarding the people of Israel and Judah. 5 Yes, this is what Yahweh says: “You hear people crying out because they are terrified, and there is no safety for them.

6 Think about this:

Men certainly do not give birth to babies.

Yet, I see every strong man

with their hands on their stomachs

like a woman who is about to give birth.

Everyone’s face has turned pale because they are afraid.

7 How terrible that time will be.

There will never be another time like it.

It will be a time when the people of Israel will suffer greatly,

but God will rescue them from that suffering.

8 Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says this: “At that time, I will free my people from the King of Babylon who has has been forcing them to obey him. People in other countries will no longer be their bosses.

9 Instead, my people will serve me, Yahweh their God, and they will serve a king whom I will appoint for them, a king who is a descendant of King David.

10 So you people of Israel who serve me,

do not be afraid.” This is what Yahweh declares.

“You should not worry because I will certainly rescue you and your descendants from the land where others have taken you as prisoners.

Then you people of Israel will return and will live peacefully and safely,

and no nation will cause you to fear.

11 I am with you in order to rescue you.” This is what Yahweh declared. He said, “I will completely destroy all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you fairly, but I will certainly not let you go without any punishment.”

12 Yahweh also says this to his people: “

You have suffered very much.

It is as though you have a terrible wound that cannot be healed.

13 There is no one helping you;

you have suffered much and it is as though there is no medicine that can heal your wounds.

14 The nations that used to be your allies have all abandoned you

and no longer care about you.

I have punished you severely,

like your enemies would wound you,

because you have sinned so many times.

15 So do not complain about how I have punished you;

your suffering that seems never ending.

I did these things to you

because you have sinned so many times

16 I will cause foreign armies to destroy all those who try to destroy you,

and all of your enemies will certainly go away as prisoners.

Everyone who steals your possessions will lose their own possessions,

and everyone who attacks you will be the ones whom others attack.

17 People say that you are outcasts

and that you live in Jerusalem, a city that no one cares about.” This is what Yahweh declared. He says,

“I will cause things to go well again for you.

18 This is what Yahweh says: “I be compassionate to the people of Israel and allow them to return to their ruined homes. People will rebuild the city of Jerusalem on top of its ruins, and the palace will stand again in its proper place.

19 The people will sing songs of thanksgiving and they will rejoice. I will make them more numerous so that they will not become few, and I will cause others to honor them so that no one looks down on them.

20 Their children will thrive as they did long ago. I will establish their community in my presence, and I will punish every nation that oppresses them.

21 Their leader will be one of their own people, and their ruler will come from among them. I will invite him to approach me, and he will come into my presence, because no one would dare to come near to me unless I invited him.” This is what Yahweh declared.

22 “You will be my people, and I will be your God.”

23 Yahweh will be very angry;

he will punish wicked people; and will act against them

like a powerful storm that swirls around them.

24 Yahweh will not stop being angry

until he has accomplished everything that he has planned to do.

In the future, you will clearly understand all of this.

31 Yahweh declares this: “At that time, I will be the God whom all the clans of Israel worship, and they will be my people.”

2 This is what Yahweh says:

“The people who survived when their enemies attacked them in war

saw that I showed kindness to them, even out in the desert;

when the people of Israel sought rest.”

3 Yahweh appeared to us, Israelite people, in the past and said,

“I have loved you in the past and I will continue loving you forever.

Because of this I have lovingly drawn you close to myself.

4 People of Israel, I will make you a strong nation again. You will again pick up your tambourines and joyfully dance.

5 You will once again plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria, and you yourselves will enjoy eating the grapes that you grow there.

6 There will be a time when watchmen will call out from the hills in the region of Ephraim, ‘Come, let us go up to Jerusalem, to where Yahweh our God dwells so that we might worship him there!’ ”

7 This is also what I,Yahweh say:

“Sing joyfully about what I have done for the people of Israel!

Shout because your nation is the greatest of the nations!

Loudly praise me, saying,

‘Yahweh, rescue your people,

those who are still alive in Israel!’

8 Know that I will bring my people back from the lands in the north, and I will gather them from the most distant places on the earth. Among them will be people who are blind and people who cannot walk well, women who are pregnant and women who are about to give birth. A huge group of people will return here.

9 They will be crying as they return,

and as they pray to me, I will lead them back.

I will guide them to streams of water,

along a smooth road where they will not trip.

I will do this because I care for the people of Israel as a father cares for his children,

and the people of Ephraim are as dear to me as a man's oldest son.

10 People of the nations, listen to this message from me, Yahweh, and proclaim it to the people who live on the coastlands far away. Say, ‘The one who scattered the people of Israel will gather them again and will guard them, just as a shepherd takes care of his sheep.’

11 I, Yahweh will buy the Israelite people back from those who were more powerful than they were.

12 So they will return and sing joyfully on the heights of Jerusalem, and they will rejoice because of the good things that I give them—

grain and new wine and olive oil and young sheep and cattle.

They will be strong and joyful, like a garden that gets plenty of water,

and they will never be sad again.

13 Then the young women will dance joyfully, and the young men and the old men will rejoice along with them. I will cause them to be joyful instead of mourning; I will comfort them and I will make them glad instead of sad.

14 I will give the priests plenty of food, and I will completely satisfy my people with the good things that I give them. I, Yahweh, declare that this will happen!

15 Yahweh says this:

“People in the town of Ramah heard a sound, the sound of women wailing and weeping bitterly.

The women who were the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, the two grandsons of Rachel the wife of Jacob, were weeping for their sons

and refusing to let anyone comfort them,

because their sons were dead.”

16 Yahweh says this:

“Do not cry anymore

and stop shedding tears, because I will reward you for the good things you have done;

your children will return from the land of their enemies.

17 You can confidently expect that I will cause good things to happen to you in the future;

your children will return to their own land.” This is what Yahweh declares.

18 I, Yahweh, have certainly heard the people of Israel grieving and saying to me,

‘You disciplined us severely,

the way a farmer trains a calf that is not trained to wear a yoke so that it can work.

Bring us back to you, and we will return to you,

because you are Yahweh our God.

19 We turned away from you,

but afterward we were sorry for our sin;

after you caused us to understand that we were guilty because of what we had done, we struck our thighs to show that we were very ashamed.

We felt greatly ashamed because of the wrong things we did when we were young.’

20 The people of Israel are certainly my precious children, the ones I delight in.

For as often as I have to punish them,

but I still certainly remember them.

So my inner being yearns for them,

and I will certainly act mercifully toward them.” Yahweh, declares this.

21 You people of Israel, set up road signs for yourselves;

put up for yourselves posts along the roads

to mark the road on which you traveled away from here.

Return my precious people of Israel,

return to your towns here.

22 You people who have turned away from me like daughters who have forsaken their parents,

you have consistently been unfaithful to me.

I, Yahweh, will cause something new to happen in the land:

the women of Israel will be protecting the strong warriors!”

23 This is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God whom the people of Israel worship, says: “When I bring my people back to the land of Judah from the countries where they were taken, the people in the cities of Judah will once again say, ‘We pray that Yahweh will bless this place where he lives, this sacred mountain!’ 24 The people of Judah and everyone in its cities will live there together, including the farmers and the shepherds who move around with their flocks. 25 I will satisfy those who are weary, and I will refresh all those who are sorrowful.”

26 After I, Jeremiah, dreamed those things, I woke up and looked around. I had slept very peacefully!

27 Yahweh, declares “Pay attention, there will be a time when I will greatly increase the number of people and the number of animals in the land of Israel and the land of Judah. 28 In the past, I made sure that their enemies removed the people from their land, tore down what they had built, and ruined their land, bringing many disasters on it. But in the future, I will make sure that they build houses and plant crops again.” Yahweh, declares this. 29 Previously, the people often said, ‘The parents ate sour grapes, but it is their children's teeth that became numb.’ They meant that it was not fair for God to punish them for their ancestors’ sins. But when I bring them back, they will no longer say that.

30 Instead, each person will die because of his own sin; so that it will be as if anyone who eats sour grapes, will have their own teeth become numb.” 31 Yahweh, declares this, “Know that there will be a time when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 This new agreement will not be like the agreement that I made with their ancestors when I took them by their hands and led them out of Egypt. They disobeyed that agreement, even though I cared for them the way a husband cares for his wife.” Yahweh, declares this. 33 “This is the new agreement that I, Yahweh will make with the people of Israel after that time: I will cause them to love and believe my teachings in their inner beings. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Yahweh declares this. 34 They will no longer need to teach their neighbors and their relatives, saying, ‘You need to know Yahweh,’ because everyone, from the least important to the most important, will already know me. And I will forgive them for the wicked things they have done, and I will never again think about the sins that they committed.” Yahweh declares this.

35 Yahweh is the one who provides the sun

to give light during the day, and who causes

the moon and the stars to give light during the night.

He stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar.

His name is Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies,

and this is what he says:

36 “Just like I have established those laws to govern the universe and will never get rid of those laws, so I will not ever allow the Israelites to stop being a nation in my presence.” Yahweh, declares this.

37 This is what Yahweh says:

“No one is able to measure the sky above

or to find out what supports the earth below.

In the same way, I will certainly never reject all the descendants of Israel,

for all the evil things that they have done.” Yahweh declares this.

38 Yahweh also declares this: “Pay attention to this: there will be a time when people will rebuild the whole city of Jerusalem for me, from the Tower of Hananel at the northeast corner, west to the gate named the Corner Gate. 39 Then workers will again stretch a measuring string straight over Gareb Hill and around to Goah. 40 And the whole area, including the valley where they throw dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, over to the corner of the Horse Gate on the east side, I will set apart as holy for myself. People will never again tear down the city of Jerusalem or destroy it.”

32 After Zedekiah had been ruling Judah for almost ten years, Yahweh gave me this message. That was during the time that Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling Babylonia for almost eighteen years.

2 At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was surrounding Jerusalem, and King Zedekiah had locked me in a prison area in the courtyard where the guards of the king of Judah's palace stayed. 3 King Zedekiah had put me there because I had kept prophesying. I had kept saying, “Yahweh says this: ‘I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and his army will capture it. 4 King Zedekiah, king of Judah, will not escape from the power of the army of Babylonia. Instead, I will certainly hand him over to the king of Babylon, and Zedekiah will speak with the king of Babylon face to face and will see him with his own eyes. 5 The king of Babylon will force Zedekiah to go to Babylon, and he will remain there until I decide how to punish him. So even though Zedekiah and his soldiers fight against the army of Babylonia, they will not succeed.’ ” Yahweh declares this.

6 At that time, I, Jeremiah, said this: “Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 7 “Listen! Your cousin Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you. He will say to you, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because you are my closest relative, so you have the right to buy it before anyone else does.’ ”

8 And just as Yahweh had predicted, my cousin Hanamel came to see me in the courtyard where the guards stayed. He said to me, "Please buy my field at Anathoth in the area where the descendants of Benjamin live. Because you are my closest relative, you have the right to buy it and to keep it in our family. So buy it for yourself." Then I knew that this message had truly come from Yahweh.

9 So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out for him the silver to pay for it, which was about seven ounces of silver. 10 I signed and sealed the deed on which it was written that I was buying it, while others were witnessing it. Then I weighed the silver on a scale and gave it to him. 11 Then I took the deeds of purchase. I took both the sealed and the unsealed copy, which stated the terms and conditions of the purchase.

12 And I gave them to Baruch, who was the son of Neriah and the grandson of Mahseiah. I did this while my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the document, and all the men of Judah who were sitting in the courtyard where the guards stayed were watching.

13 While all of them were watching, I commanded Baruch. I said this, 14 "Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God whom we Israelites worship, says this: 'Take both of these documents of purchase, the sealed copy and the copy that is not sealed, and put them in a clay jar, so that they will last for a long time. 15 Do that because Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God whom we Israelites worship, says this: Some day people will again buy houses and fields and vineyards in this land.'"

16 After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch, the son of Neriah, I prayed to Yahweh. I said,

17 Oh Yahweh my Lord! Surely, because of how very powerful you are, you yourself were able to make the sky and the earth. Nothing is too difficult for you to do. 18 You faithfully love thousands of people, but you also punish children for the sins that their parents committed. You are the great and mighty God; you are Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies. 19 You make wise plans and you do many mighty deeds. You know everything that people do, and you reward each person according to how that person has behaved. 20 You performed many miracles in the land of Egypt, miracles that people still remember to this day. And you continue to work great miracles here in Israel and throughout the world. And you have made yourself famous to this day. 21 You brought our Israelite ancestors out of the land of Egypt by performing many miracles by your very great power, causing your enemies to be greatly terrified. 22 You gave us Israelite people this land that you had solemnly promised to give to our ancestors, a very fertile and productive land. 23 Our ancestors came here and took control of this land and started to live in it, but they did not obey you or do all that you commanded them to do through Moses. So you caused them to experience all these disasters.

24 Look! The army of Babylonia has built ramps up against the walls of our city in order to capture it. Because of war and because of famine and diseases, the army of Babylonia, which is fighting against us, is about to capture our city. The things that you said would happen are happening, and you see it happening. 25 Yet you yourself, Yahweh my Lord, told me, 'Buy the field for yourself with silver and have some men watch you do it so that they can testify about it'— even though the army of Babylonia is about to capture this city!

Yahweh's reply about buying the land

26 Then gave Yahweh me this message: 27 “I am Yahweh, the God who rules over every living thing. Know for certain, that there is nothing that is too difficult for me to do! 28 So I, Yahweh, say this: I am certainly about to hand this city over to the army of Babylonia and to their king, king Nebuchadnezzar, and his army will capture it. 29 The soldiers of Babylonia who are now attacking this city will enter it and set it on fire and burn it down. They will burn down the houses where the people made me very angry by burning incense on the tops of their roofs to honor Baal and by pouring out offerings of wine to other gods.

30 The people of Israel and the people of Judah have done only what I consider to be evil from the time that they became a nation. The people of Israel have surely made me very angry by the idols that they made.” Yahweh declares this. 31 From the time that the Israelite people took Jerusalem from the Jebusites and began expanding it and fortifying it, until now, the people of this city have made me extremely angry. So now I will remove it from my presence. 32 The people of Israel and the people of Judah have made me angry by all the evil things that they did. This includes their kings, their officials, their priests, their prophets, and all the people of Judah and the people who live in Jerusalem. 33 My people refused to pay attention to me. Although I taught them again and again, yet they would not pay attention in order to act upon the things I told them. 34 They set up their detestable idols in the temple which belongs to me, and so they caused it to become unacceptable for people to worship me there. 35 They built shrines for worshiping Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, and there they sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire to the god Molech. I never commanded them to do that; and I did not even think about commanding them to do such a detestable thing. By doing it, they caused the people of Judah to sin.

The promise to restore Judah and Israel

36 But now, therefore, I, Yahweh, the God whom you Israelite people say you belong to, say this about this city about which you people of Jerusalem are saying, 'The army of the king of Babylon is about to capture it by warfare and because of famines and diseases.' 37 But I, Yahweh, say, Listen! I will certainly gather my people from all the countries to which I will force them to go because I am extremely angry with them. I will bring them back to this place and allow them to live here safely. 38 They will be my people, and I myself will be their God. 39 I will cause them to have a single-minded purpose and way of behaving so that they will revere me forever. This will benefit them and their descendants. 40 I will make an agreement with them that will last forever: I will never stop doing good things for them, and I will cause them to revere me, so that they will not stop obeying me. 41 I will be happy to do good things for them, and I will faithfully settle them permanently in this land. I will do that wholeheartedly and enthusiastically.

42 I, Yahweh, say this: 'Just as I caused my people to experience all these great disasters, so I will also do for them all the good things that I have promised them. 43 People will once again buy fields in this land, the land about which you people of Jerusalem now say, "It is desolate. There are no longer any people or animals here, and the army of Babylonia has captured it." 44 People will buy fields with silver, sign documents, seal them, and have other men watch them do it so that they can testify about it. People will do that in the land where the descendants of Benjamin live, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the western foothills, and in the cities of the southern wilderness. I will cause my people to prosper again.’ ” Yahweh declares this.

33 Yahweh gave me, Jeremiah a second message while soldiers were still guarding me in the guard’s courtyard inside King Zedekiah’s palace. Yahweh said, 2 “This is what I, Yahweh, the one who made the earth, Yahweh who shaped it and put it in its place, say to the people of Jerusalem:—My name is Yahweh. 3 ‘Call out to me, and I will respond to you; I will tell you great things that I have previously hidden and that you could never discover on your own and do not know.’ 4 This is what I, Yahweh, the God of Israel, say about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah: ‘The people of this city have torn down some of their houses, and even parts of the king’s palace, to get materials to strengthen the walls around the city, so that the soldiers of Babylonia will not be able to break through the walls after they climb up the ramps that they have built against the walls and kill the inhabitants of the city with their swords. 5 The people are expecting to fight against the army from Babylonia, but what will happen is that the corpses of the men of this city will fill these houses. I will let their enemies kill those men because I am extremely angry with them. I have abandoned this city because of all the wicked things that its people have done. 6 Know that there will be a time when I will restore the people of this city. I will reveal to them my abundantly peaceful way of living and teach them my perfectly right way to live. 7 I will cause the people of Judah and the people of Israel to prosper again, and I will enable them to rebuild their towns as they were before. 8 I will remove all their guiltiness that they incurred by sinning against me, and I will forgive them for all the evil things that they have done against me by which they rebelled against me. 9 When that happens people from all the nations of the earth will rejoice and praise me and honor me. They will hear about all the good things that I am doing for the people of this city, and because of that they will fear me, and they will tremble because I have blessed the people in this city with many good things and have caused them to live peacefully.’

10 This is also what I, Yahweh, say: ‘You people are saying that this land is a desolate land that no longer has people and animals living in it. However, some day in the streets of Jerusalem that are now empty of people and animals, and in the other towns of Judah, people will hear 11 others making joyful sounds. People will hear the sound of brides and bridegrooms celebrating. They will hear the sound of people saying, “Give thanks to Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies for he is good and faithfully loves us forever,” as they bring their offerings to my temple. They will sing that song because I will cause the people of this land to prosper as much as they did before.’ This is what I Yahweh say.

12 This is what I, Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, say: ‘This land is now desolate; there are no people or animals living here However, in this land there will again be pastures where shepherds will lead their flocks to rest. 13 In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the western foothills, in the cities of the southern wilderness, in the region where the descendants of Benjamin live, in the areas around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shepherds will again count their sheep as the sheep walk past them.’ That will surely happen because I, Yahweh have said it.

14 Listen to this! A time is coming when I, Yahweh will do for the people of Israel and the people of Judah all the good things that I promised to do for them.

15 At that time I will appoint a righteous man who will be a descendant of King David.

Throughout the land, he will do what is just and right.

16 At that time, I will rescue the people of Judah,

and the people who live in Jerusalem will be safe.

People will call their city, ‘Yahweh is the one who makes things right for us.’

17 This is also what I, Yahweh, say: ‘There will always be a descendant of King David to rule over the people of Israel. 18 There will also always be priests, who are descendants of Levi, standing in front of me to serve me. They will offer sacrifices that they completely burn on the altar, and they will burn grain offerings and present other sacrifices to me.’ ”

19 Then Yahweh gave me, Jeremiah another message. He said, 20 “This is what I, Yahweh, say: ‘I have set up the fixed order that governs the daytime and the nighttime, so that they always come at their proper times, and you certainly cannot annul that order. 21 In a similar way, you cannot annul the covenant that I made with King David, who served me, my promise that his descendants will always rule as kings. You also cannot annul my covenant with the descendants of Levi, who serve me as priests. 22 As no one can count the stars in the sky, and no one can measure the grains of sand along the seashore. In a similar way, I will give a huge number of descendants to King David, who serves me, and to the descendants of Levi, who serve me as priests.’ ”

23 Then Yahweh gave me, Jeremiah, another message. He said, 24 You have surely noticed what these people are saying. They say, ‘Yahweh chose the two groups, the people of Israel and the people of Judah, but now he has rejected them.’ By saying this, they are despising my people, and they no longer regard the Israelites as a nation. 25 However, this is what I, Yahweh, say: ‘I will certainly not change my laws of nature that I have established to control the day and the night, the sky and the earth. 26 Just as surely as I have firmly established those laws of nature, I will never abandon the descendants of Jacob or the descendants of David, who served me. I will always choose rulers from among David’s descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will cause them to prosper again, and I will act mercifully toward them.’ ”

34 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with his whole army and with the armies of all the kingdoms that he ruled, and they fought against Jerusalem and against all the other cities of Judah. At that time, Yahweh gave me, Jeremiah, this message. He said, 2 “I am Yahweh, the God whom you Israelites worship, and I am telling you to go to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and tell him this. ‘Yahweh, says this: “I am about to enable the army of the king of Babylon to capture this city, and they will burn it down. 3 You will not escape from them. They will surely capture you and hand you over to the control of the king of Babylon. You will meet the king of Babylon in person and speak with him directly, and then they will take you to Babylon.’

4 But King Zedekiah, listen to what I, Yahweh, promise about you: ‘You will not die in battle. 5 You will die peacefully. At your funeral people will burn incense to honor you, just as they did for your ancestors, the kings who ruled before you. They will mourn for you, crying out, “We are very sad, our master!” This will surely happen because I myself have spoken it. This is what I, Yahweh, declare.’ ”

6 So I, Jeremiah the prophet, told all of this to King Zedekiah while I was in Jerusalem. 7 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem and all the remaining cities of Judah, Lachish and Azekah. Because those were the only cities in Judah that had high walls around them that the Babylonians had not yet captured.

8 Yahweh gave me, Jeremiah, a message after King Zedekiah had made a solemn agreement with all the people who were in Jerusalem, that they must free their slaves. 9 He decreed that the people must free their Hebrew slaves, both the men and the women. No one was to keep a fellow Jew as a slave any longer. 10 So all the officials and the rest of the people who had agreed to this obeyed, and they freed their slaves. 11 But later they changed their minds. They forced the men and women whom they had freed to become their slaves again.

12 So Yahweh gave me, Jeremiah, this message. He said, 13 “I, Yahweh, the God whom you Israelites worship, say this. Long ago, when I rescued your ancestors from Egypt, where they were slaves, I made a solemn agreement with them. I told them this: 14 ‘Every seventh year, each of you must free any fellow Hebrew who has sold himself to you and has served you for six years. You must let him go free.’ But your ancestors did not pay any attention to what I said. 15 Recently, you yourselves did what pleases me: you stopped doing what was wrong. Each of you promised to free your fellow Israelites, and you made a solemn agreement about this before me in my temple, the place that belongs to me. 16 But now you have disregarded what you solemnly promised and dishonored me. Each of you has taken back the male and female slaves whom you had freed to live where they desired, and you have forced them to be your slaves again.

17 Therefore, this is what I, Yahweh, say: ‘Because you have not obeyed me by each of you freeing your fellow Israelites, I will certainly now set you free— free to die in war, from disease, and from famine! I will make the people from all the kingdoms of the earth horrified when they see what happens to you. 18 I will cut apart the people who have disobeyed what I said in my solemn agreement and who did not do what they solemnly promised before me. To confirm that agreement, they cut a calf into two pieces and walked between the pieces. 19 This includes the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the palace officials, the priests, and all the rest of the common people— everyone who walked between the pieces of the calf. 20 I will enable their enemies, who want to kill them, to capture them, and their enemies will kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.

21 I will enable the army of the king of Babylon to capture King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials. Although the king of Babylon and his army have left Jerusalem for a short time. 22 Know that I, Yahweh, am giving the command that will cause the army of Babylon to return to this city. They will attack it, capture it, and burn it down. And I will make sure that the cities of Judah are destroyed and no longer have anyone living in them.’ ” That is what Yahweh declares.

35 Several years earlier, when Jehoiakim, whose father was Josiah, was the king of Judah, Yahweh gave me, Jeremiah, this message. He said, 2 “Go to the place where the families of the Rekabite clan live. Invite them to my temple. When they arrive, take them into one of the side rooms and offer them wine.”

3 So I went to get Jaazaniah and his brothers and all his sons, who represented the Rekabite clan. Jaazaniah was the son of another man named Jeremiah and the grandson of Habazziniah. 4 I took them to the temple of Yahweh, and we went into the room where the sons of Hanan stayed. Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, was a prophet. That room was next to the room that the officials used, and it was above the room that belonged to Maaseiah the son of Shallum, who was the gatekeeper of the temple.

5 Then I set pitchers full of wine and some cups in front of them, and I said to them, “Drink some wine.” 6 They refused and said, “We do not drink wine, because our ancestor Jonadab son of Rekab commanded us that we and our descendants must never drink wine. 7 He also told us that we must not build houses or sow seed or plant vineyards, nor own any of these things. But instead, we must always live in tents, so that we would live for many years in this land where we live as foreigners. 8 So we have obeyed everything that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. We, our wives, our sons, and our daughters have never drunk wine. 9 We have not built houses to live in, and we do not have vineyards or fields or crops. 10 We have lived in tents, and we have obeyed everything that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us.

11 However, when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his army attacked this country, we said, ‘We must go to Jerusalem to escape from the Babylonian army and the Aramean army.’ So we are now living in Jerusalem.”

12 Then Yahweh gave me, Jeremiah, this message. He said, 13 “Go and tell the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem that this is what I, Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God of Israel, say to them: ‘You refuse to accept my correction and pay attention to my messages’ ”. That is what Yahweh declares. 14 The descendants of Jonadab son of Rekab have obeyed what their ancestor commanded them, so they do not drink wine to this day. I, however, have spoken to you people again and again, but you have not obeyed me. 15 I have sent all my servants the prophets to you again and again. They told you, “Each one of you must stop doing wicked things and do what is good. Stop worshiping other gods. Then you will live in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.” Yet you did not pay attention to me or obey me. 16 The descendants of Jonadab son of Rekab have obeyed the command that their ancestor gave them, but you people have refused to obey me.’

17 So this is what I, Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God of Israel, say: ‘Know that I am going to bring on the people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem all the disasters that I threatened because I spoke to them, but they did not pay attention; I called out to them, but they did not respond.’ ”

18 Then I, Jeremiah, said to the Rekabite clan, “Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God of Israel, says this: ‘Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jonadab and have kept all his instructions and have done everything that he commanded you, 19 therefore Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God of Israel, promises this: ‘There will always be descendants of Jonadab son of Rekab who will serve before me.’ ”

36 During the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was the king of Judah, Yahweh spoke this message to me, Jeremiah. He said, 2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the messages that I have spoken to you about Israel and about Judah and about all the other nations. Write down everything that I have told you, from the time when Josiah was king until today. 3 It may be that the people of Judah will hear about all the disasters that I am planning to bring on them, each of them will stop behaving wickedly. If they do that, I will forgive them for their sinful behavior.”

4 So I, Jeremiah summoned Baruch son of Neriah, and while I spoke aloud all the messages that Yahweh had given me. Baruch wrote them on a scroll. 5 Then I,Jeremiah instructed Baruch, “The authorities have forbidden me to enter the temple of Yahweh. 6 You must go there instead. On a day when the people are abstaining from food, read aloud from the scroll the messages of Yahweh that I dictated to you, so that the people in Yahweh’s temple can hear them. Read them aloud also so that all the people of Judah who come there from their cities can hear them. 7 Perhaps they will humbly plead with Yahweh that he would act mercifully toward them, and each of them will stop behaving wickedly, because Yahweh is extremely angry with these people and has threatened that he will punish them severely.” 8 Baruch son of Neriah did everything that I, Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him to do. He read aloud from the scroll the messages of Yahweh at the temple of Yahweh.

9 During the ninth month of the fifth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was the king of Judah, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who had come to Jerusalem from the cities of Judah proclaimed a time of fasting before Yahweh. 10 So at the temple of Yahweh, Baruch read aloud from the scroll the messages that I, Jeremiah, had given him, so that all the people could hear them. He read them in the room that belonged to Gemariah son of Shaphan, the scribe. That room was in the upper courtyard, next to the entrance of the New Gate of the temple of Yahweh.

11 Micaiah, the son of Gemariah and the grandson of Shaphan, heard all the messages of Yahweh that Baruch read from the scroll. 12 Then he went down to the palace, into the room of the scribe, where all the king’s officials were sitting. They were Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. 13 Micaiah told them everything that he had heard when Baruch read aloud from the scroll to the people. 14 So all the officials sent Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah and the grandson of Shelemiah and the great-grandson of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Bring us that scroll that you read aloud to the people, and come here.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to them. 15 They said to him, “Please sit down and read it to us.” So Baruch read it aloud to them. 16 When they heard all the messages, they became afraid, each person expressing this to their neighbor. They said to Baruch, “We must certainly report all these messages to the king.” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Please tell us: How did you get all these messages? Did Jeremiah dictate them to you?” 18 Baruch answered them, “Yes, Jeremiah spoke all these messages aloud to me, and I wrote them on the scroll with ink.” 19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must go and hide. Do not let anyone know where you are.”

20 The officials put the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe. Then they went to the king in the courtyard and reported to him everything that Baruch had read to them. 21 So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it aloud to the king and to all the officials who were standing beside the king. 22 It was the ninth month, the cold season, so the king was sitting in the part of the palace where he lived during the winter, and in front of him a fire was burning in a pot to keep him warm. 23 Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut off that section with a scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire in the pot. He did this again and again, until the whole scroll had finished burning in the fire that was in the pot. 24 The king and all his officials who heard all these messages were not afraid, and they did not tear their clothes to show that they were sorry for what they had done. 25 And even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he refused to pay attention to them. 26 Then the king commanded his son Jerahmeel, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and me, Jeremiah the prophet. But they were unable to do that because Yahweh had hidden us.

27 After King Jehoiakim burned the scroll that held the messages that Baruch had written down while I, Jeremiah spoke them aloud, Yahweh spoke this message to me, Jeremiah. Yahweh said, 28 “Get another scroll and write on it all the messages that were on the first scroll, the one that Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned. 29 Regarding Jehoiakim the king of Judah you must say, ‘Yahweh says this: “you burned this scroll and you rebuked Jeremiah for writing on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy this land and put an end to every person and animal in it. 30 So now I,Yahweh say this about you Jehoiakim king of Judah: ‘None of your descendants will rule this kingdom. After you die, people will throw your corpse out on the ground, where it will lie in the heat during the day and in the frost during the night. 31 I, Yahweh will punish you and your descendants and your officials because of the wicked things that you have all done. I will bring on you, and on everyone who lives in Jerusalem, and on all the people of Judah, every disaster that I warned you about, because none of you would pay attention to me.’ ”

32 So I, Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe. While I spoke aloud, Baruch wrote on it all the messages of the scroll that Jehoiakim the king of Judah had burned in the fire. I, Jeremiah also dictated many other similar messages, and Baruch added them to the scroll.

King Zedekiah asks Jeremiah to pray

37 Zedekiah son of Josiah became the king of Judah, ruling in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, was the one who made Zedekiah king over the land of Judah. 2 But King Zedekiah, his palace officials, and the other people in the land refused to pay attention to the messages that Yahweh had given them through me, Jeremiah the prophet. 3 King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to me, Jeremiah the prophet with this request: “Please pray to Yahweh our God for us.” 4 At that time I, Jeremiah was still moving about freely among the people, because no one had yet put me in prison. 5 At that time the army of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt had marched out from Egypt. When the army of Babylonia who were surrounding Jerusalem, heard the report about that army, they stopped surrounding Jerusalem and marched away.

6 Then Yahweh gave this message to me, Jeremiah, the prophet. He said, 7 “I, Yahweh, the God of Israel say this: The king of Judah who sent messengers to you to ask me what is going to happen. Tell the king that even though the army of the king of Egypt, came to help him, they are about to return to their own land. 8 Then the Babylonian army will come back, attack this city, capture it, and burn it down. 9 I also say this to you Israelites: You should not deceive yourselves by thinking, ‘The Babylonian army has certainly left us for good.’ For they will not stay away. 10 Because even if you could defeat the entire Babylonian army that is fighting against you, so that only wounded men remained lying in their tents, those wounded men would get up and burn this city down.”

Officials put Jeremiah in prison

11 When the Babylonian army withdrew from Jerusalem because the army of Pharaoh was approaching, 12 then, I, Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin, in order to claim there the share of family property that belonged to me among my people. 13 However, when I reached the Gate of Benjamin, the officer in charge there, a man named Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah, arrested me, Jeremiah the prophet and accused me, saying, “You are deserting us and going to the soldiers of the Babylonian army!” 14 I, Jeremiah replied, “That is a lie! I am not deserting to the soldiers of the Babylonian army.” However, Irijah refused to pay attention to me. He arrested me and took me to the officials. 15 The officials were furious with me, Jeremiah. They beat me and locked me up in the house of Jonathan the royal secretary, which they had turned into a prison. 16 They put me, Jeremiah into a cell that people had dug out underground like a water cistern, and I stayed there for a long time.

17 Then King Zedekiah sent men who brought me to the palace. There the king questioned me privately, “Is there any message from Yahweh?” I, Jeremiah answered, “Yes, there is a message. Yahweh will hand you over to the king of Babylon.” 18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “I have not done anything wrong to you, or to your officials, or to these people. You had no reason to put me in prison. 19 Consider also your prophets, the ones who prophesied to you that the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land. Now those prophets have disappeared. 20 So now, Your Majesty, please listen to me. Please grant the request that I am making to you: do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the royal secretary, so that I will not die there.” 21 So King Zedekiah gave orders, and his men placed Jeremiah in the courtyard of the guard. Every day they gave him a loaf of bread from the street where the bakers worked, until there was no more bread anywhere in the city because the Chaldeans besieged the city again. So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.

Officials throw Jeremiah into a cistern

38 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was saying to all the people. 2 He was telling them that Yahweh had said that everyone who stayed in this city would die in war or from famine or from disease, but that everyone who left the city and surrendered to the Chaldeans that is, the Babylonians would stay alive. Such a person would escape with nothing except his own life, but he would remain alive. 3 Jeremiah was also telling them that Yahweh had said that he would certainly hand this city over to the army of the king of Babylon, and that army would capture it. 4 So the officials said to the king, “Please command your men to kill this man! By saying such things, he is making the soldiers who are still in this city lose their courage, and he is discouraging all the other people as well. This man does not want to help these people; he only wants to harm them.” 5 King Zedekiah answered, “Very well, you may do with him whatever you want. I am the king, but I cannot do anything to stop you.” 6 So the officials took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern that belonged to Malkijah, a son of the king. That cistern was in the courtyard of the guard, and they lowered Jeremiah into it with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, so Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

7 Now Ebed Melech, a man from the land of Cush, served as an official in the king’s palace. He heard that the officials had put Jeremiah into the cistern. At that time the king was sitting and deciding people’s cases at the Gate of Benjamin. 8 So Ebed Melech left the palace and said to the king, 9 “My master the king, these men have acted very wickedly in everything that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They threw him into a cistern, and he will starve to death down there, because there is no more food in the city.” 10 So the king commanded Ebed Melech from the land of Cush, “Take thirty men from here with you, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed Melech took the men with him and went into the palace, to a room underneath the storeroom. He got some worn-out rags and worn-out clothes from there, and he lowered them to Jeremiah in the cistern with ropes. 12 Then Ebed Melech from the land of Cush called down to Jeremiah, “Put these worn-out rags and clothes under your armpits, to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did that. 13 Then the men pulled Jeremiah up out of the cistern with the ropes. After that, Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.