At the beginning of the reign of Yehudah’s King Yehoyakim (Jehoiakim, son of Yoshiyah Josiah), this message came to Yirmeyah (Jeremiah) from Yahweh,[ref] 2 telling him this:

Make yourself a wooden ox yoke with bars, and tie it to your neck. 3 Use it to send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tsor (Tyre), and Tsidon (Sidon), through the ambassadors from those countries who’ve come to Yerushalem to meet with King Tsidkiyah (Zedekiah) 4 to tell them that Yisrael’s god, Commander-in-chief Yahweh says to give their masters this message: 5 I myself made the earth and the people and animals that are on the earth, by my direct actions and my great strength, and I give it to whoever see fit. 6 Now I’ve personally handed over all these lands to my servant, the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, and I’ve also given the animals in the countryside to him to serve him. 7 All the nations will serve him and his son and then his grandson, until the time of his own land comes due. Yes, it will, and then many nations and great kings will make him serve them.

8 Any nation or kingdom that won’t serve the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar and that won’t put its neck into his yoke, then I’ll punish that nation with war and famine and disease until I’ve used King Nebuchadnezzar to finish them off. That is Yahweh’s declaration, 9 so don’t you all keep listening to your ‘prophets’, and to your diviners and dreamers, and to your soothsayers and sorcerers—all those who keep telling you that you all won’t serve the Babylonian king, 10 because they’re prophesying lies to you, so as to remove you all far away from on your land. Yes, I will drive you all out and you’ll die in a foreign land. 11 However, the nation that brings its neck into the Babylonian king’s yoke and serves him, I’ll let that nation remain on its land, and it will cultivate it and live there. That’s is Yahweh’s declaration.

12 Then to Yehudah’s King Tsidkiyah (Zedekiah), I passed on those same words, saying, “Put your necks into the yoke of the Babylonian king, and serve him and his people, and live. 13 Why would you and your people die from war, famine, and disease, as Yahweh has said will come to any nation that doesn’t serve the Babylonian king? 14 So don’t listen to the messages from the prophets who are speaking to you when they tell you all not to serve the king of Babylon as they’re prophesying lies to you 15 because I didn’t send them. Yahweh declares that they’re using my name to prophesy lies so that I’ll drive you out, and you’ll all perish—both you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.” 16 Then I told the priests and all those people that Yahweh says: Don’t listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you and saying that the utensils from Yahweh’s temple will soon be brought back from Babylon, because they’re prophesying lies to you. 17 Don’t listen to them. Serve the Babylonian king and live. Why should this city become a ruin? 18 If they were prophets who really have access to Yahweh’s message, then please let them intercede with Commander-in-chief Yahweh so that the utensils remaining in Yahweh’s temple and in Yehudah’s king’s palace and in Yerushalem don’t end up being taken to Babylon.

19 Yes, Commander-in-chief Yahweh has spoken about the bronze pillars and the large, bronze water basin, and concerning the bronze stands and the rest of the utensils remaining in this city, 20 which the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar didn’t take when he exiled Yehudah’s King Yekonyah (Jeconiah, son of Yehoyakim/Jehoiakim) from Yerushalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Yehudah including Yerushalem. 21 Yisrael’s god, Commander-in-chief Yahweh says about the utensils remaining in Yahweh’s temple and in the palace of the king of Yehudah and Yerushalem: 22 They’ll be taken to Babylon and they’ll remain there until the time when I punish those Babylonians, and then I’ll bring them back and restore them to this place. That is Yahweh’s declaration.

 In the fifth month of the fourth year of the reign of Yehudah’s King Tsidkiyah (Zedekiah), Azzur’s son Hananyah who was a ‘prophet’ from Gibeon, said to me in Yahweh’s temple as priests and all the people watched, saying,[ref] 2 “Yisrael’s god, Commander-in-chief Yahweh says: I’ve broken the yoke of the Babylonian king. 3 Within two years, I, myself, will bring back here all the utensils from Yahweh’s residence that the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar got from this place and took to Babylon. 4 I, myself, will also bring Yekonyah (Jeconiah, the son of Yehudah’s King Yehoyakim/Jehoiakim) back to this place, and all the exiles from Yehudah that were taken to Babylon, because I’ll break the yoke of the Babylonian king. That is Yahweh’s declaration.”

5 Then the prophet Yirmeyah spoke to the prophet Hananyah, as the priests and all the people standing in Yahweh’s temple watched, 6 saying, “Let it be so—may Yahweh do all that. May Yahweh confirm your messages that you prophesied, to bring the temple utensils back to this place, along with all the exiles from Babylon. 7 However, please listen to this message that I, myself, am speaking as you and all the people listen: 8 The prophets who preceded both me and you, prophesied long ago that many nations and powerful kingdoms would experience wars, terrible suffering, and deadly diseases. 9 The prophet who prophesies about peace, that prophet will be known as ‘a truthful prophet sent by Yahweh’ only when his message comes to pass.”

10 Then the prophet Hananyah took the yoke bar off the prophet Yirmeyah’s neck, and broke it. 11 Then as all the people watched, he said, “This is what Yahweh says: Just like that, I’ll break the yoke of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar off the neck of all the nations within two more years.”

Then the prophet Yirmeyah left the gathering.

12 After the prophet Hananyah broke the yoke bar that had been on the prophet Yirmeyah’s neck, Yahweh’s message came to Yirmeyah saying, 13 “Go and tell Hananyah this: ‘Yahweh says that you’ve broken wooden yoke bars, but in their place, you’ll make yoke bars out of iron,’ 14 because Yisrael’s god, Commander-in-chief Yahweh says, ‘I’ve put an iron yoke bar on the neck of all these nations to serve the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, and they will indeed serve him. I’ve also given him the animals from the countryside.’ ”

15 Then the prophet Yirmeyah told the prophet Hananyah, “Listen, please, Hananyah. Yahweh hasn’t sent you, and you yourself have made this people group put their trust in things that aren’t true. 16 Because of that, Yahweh says this: ‘Listen, I’m removing you from this world. You’ll die this very year, because you have said things that would cause the people to rebel against Yahweh.’ ”

17 The prophet Hananyah then died in the seventh month of that year.