Bible Browser

Hananiah Opposes Jeremiah and Dies

28In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, ²‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. ³Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. ⁴I will also bring back to this place King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, says the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’

5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord; ⁶and the prophet Jeremiah said, ‘Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord fulfil the words that you have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. ⁷But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. ⁸The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. ⁹As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.’

10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, and broke it. ¹¹And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: This is how I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.’ At this, the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

12 Some time after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³Go, tell Hananiah, Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden bars only to forge iron bars in place of them! ¹⁴For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations so that they may serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and they shall indeed serve him; I have even given him the wild animals. ¹⁵And the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, ‘Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you made this people trust in a lie. ¹⁶Therefore thus says the Lord: I am going to send you off the face of the earth. Within this year you will be dead, because you have spoken rebellion against the Lord.’

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

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles in Babylon

29These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²This was after King Jeconiah, and the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem. ³The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It said: ⁴Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. ⁶Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. ⁸For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,^{* 9}for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the Lord.

10 For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfil to you my promise and bring you back to this place. ¹¹For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. ¹²Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. ¹³When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, ¹⁴I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

15 Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon’— ¹⁶thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who live in this city, your kinsfolk who did not go out with you into exile: ¹⁷Thus says the Lord of hosts, I am going to let loose on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like rotten figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. ¹⁸I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of cursing, and horror, and hissing, and a derision among all the nations where I have driven them, ¹⁹because they did not heed my words, says the Lord, when I persistently sent to you my servants the prophets, but they^* would not listen, says the Lord. ²⁰But now, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon, hear the word of the Lord: ²¹Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: I am going to deliver them into the hand of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, and he shall kill them before your eyes. ²²And on account of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: ‘The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire’, ²³because they have perpetrated outrage in Israel and have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them; I am the one who knows and bears witness, says the Lord.

The Letter of Shemaiah

24 To Shemaiah of Nehelam you shall say: ²⁵Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: In your own name you sent a letter to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶The Lord himself has made you priest instead of the priest Jehoiada, so that there may be officers in the house of the Lord to control any madman who plays the prophet, to put him in the stocks and the collar. ²⁷So now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who plays the prophet for you? ²⁸For he has actually sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘It will be a long time; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat what they produce.’

29 The priest Zephaniah read this letter in the hearing of the prophet Jeremiah. ³⁰Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ³¹Send to all the exiles, saying, Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, though I did not send him, and has led you to trust in a lie, ³²therefore thus says the Lord: I am going to punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants; he shall not have anyone living among this people to see^* the good that I am going to do to my people, says the Lord, for he has spoken rebellion against the Lord.

Restoration Promised for Israel and Judah

30The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. ³For the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors and they shall take possession of it.

4 These are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah:
⁵ Thus says the Lord:
We have heard a cry of panic,
   of terror, and no peace.
⁶ Ask now, and see,
   can a man bear a child?
Why then do I see every man
   with his hands on his loins like a woman in labour?
   Why has every face turned pale?
⁷ Alas! that day is so great
   there is none like it;
it is a time of distress for Jacob;
   yet he shall be rescued from it.

8 On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will break the yoke from off his^* neck, and I will burst his^* bonds, and strangers shall no more make a servant of him. ⁹But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

¹⁰ But as for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob, says the Lord,
   and do not be dismayed, O Israel;
for I am going to save you from far away,
   and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
   and no one shall make him afraid.
¹¹ For I am with you, says the Lord, to save you;
I will make an end of all the nations
   among which I scattered you,
   but of you I will not make an end.
I will chastise you in just measure,
   and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

¹² For thus says the Lord:
Your hurt is incurable,
   your wound is grievous.
¹³ There is no one to uphold your cause,
   no medicine for your wound,
   no healing for you.
¹⁴ All your lovers have forgotten you;
   they care nothing for you;
for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy,
   the punishment of a merciless foe,
because your guilt is great,
   because your sins are so numerous.
¹⁵ Why do you cry out over your hurt?
   Your pain is incurable.
Because your guilt is great,
   because your sins are so numerous,
   I have done these things to you.
¹⁶ Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured,
   and all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity;
those who plunder you shall be plundered,
   and all who prey on you I will make a prey.
¹⁷ For I will restore health to you,
   and your wounds I will heal,

says the Lord,
because they have called you an outcast:
   ‘It is Zion; no one cares for her!’

¹⁸ Thus says the Lord:
I am going to restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob,
   and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city shall be rebuilt upon its mound,
   and the citadel set on its rightful site.
¹⁹ Out of them shall come thanksgiving,
   and the sound of merrymakers.
I will make them many, and they shall not be few;
   I will make them honoured, and they shall not be disdained.
²⁰ Their children shall be as of old,
   their congregation shall be established before me;
   and I will punish all who oppress them.
²¹ Their prince shall be one of their own,
   their ruler shall come from their midst;
I will bring him near, and he shall approach me,
   for who would otherwise dare to approach me?

says the Lord.
²² And you shall be my people,
   and I will be your God.

²³ Look, the storm of the Lord!
   Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling^* tempest;
   it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
²⁴ The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
   until he has executed and accomplished
   the intents of his mind.
In the latter days you will understand this.