Book Order Plan

¹In 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 said to me in the temple of the LORD in the presence of the priests and all the people,

²“This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

³Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles of the LORD’s temple that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from here and transported to Babylon.

⁴And I will restore to this place Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon’ — this is the LORD’s declaration — ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

⁵The prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the temple of the LORD.

⁶The prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the LORD do that. May the LORD make the words you have prophesied come true and may he restore the articles of the LORD’s temple and all the exiles from Babylon to this place!

⁷Only listen to this message I am speaking in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people.

⁸The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, disaster, and plague against many lands and great kingdoms.

⁹As for the prophet who prophesies peace — only when the word of the prophet comes true will the prophet be recognized as one the LORD has truly sent.”

¹⁰The prophet Hananiah then took the yoke bar from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it.

¹¹In the presence of all the people Hananiah proclaimed, “This is what the LORD says: ‘In this way, within two years I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’” The prophet Jeremiah then went on his way.

¹²After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke bar from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

¹³“Go say to Hananiah, ‘This is what the LORD says: You broke a wooden yoke bar, but in its place you will make an iron yoke bar.

¹⁴For this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations that they might serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have even put the wild animals under him.’”

¹⁵The prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you, but you have led these people to trust in a lie.

¹⁶Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to send you off the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.’”

¹⁷And the prophet Hananiah died that year in the seventh month.

¹This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining exiled elders, the priests, the prophets, and all the people Nebuchadnezzar had deported from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had left Jerusalem.

³He sent the letter with Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The letter stated:

⁴This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon:

⁵“Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce.

⁶Find wives for yourselves, and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease.

⁷Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.”

⁸For this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you, and don’t listen to the dreams you elicit from them,

⁹for they are prophesying falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

¹⁰For this is what the LORD says: “When seventy years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place.

¹¹For I know the plans I have for you”  — this is the LORD’s declaration — “plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

¹²You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

¹³You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.

¹⁴I will be found by you” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you” — this is the LORD’s declaration. “I will restore you to the place from which I deported you.”

¹⁵You have said, “The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon!”

¹⁶But this is what the LORD says concerning the king sitting on David’s throne and concerning all the people living in this city — that is, concerning your brothers who did not go with you into exile.

¹⁷This is what the LORD of Armies says: “I am about to send sword, famine, and plague against them, and I will make them like rotten figs that are inedible because they are so bad.

¹⁸I will pursue them with sword, famine, and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth — a curse and a desolation, an object of scorn and a disgrace among all the nations where I have banished them.

¹⁹I will do this because they have not listened to my words” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “the words that I sent to them with my servants the prophets time and time again. And you too have not listened.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

²⁰Hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²¹This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, the ones prophesying a lie to you in my name: “I am about to hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes.

²²Based on what happens to them, all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will create a curse that says, ‘May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire! ’

²³because they have committed an outrage in Israel by committing adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken in my name a lie, which I did not command them. I am he who knows, and I am a witness.” This is the LORD’s declaration.

²⁴To Shemaiah the Nehelamite you are to say,

²⁵“This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: You in your own name have sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying,

²⁶‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of the priest Jehoiada to be the chief officer in the temple of the LORD, responsible for every madman who acts like a prophet. You must confine him in the stocks and an iron collar.

²⁷So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who has been acting like a prophet among you?

²⁸For he has sent word to us in Babylon, claiming, “The exile will be long. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce.”’ ”

²⁹The priest Zephaniah read this letter in the hearing of the prophet Jeremiah.

³⁰Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

³¹“Send a message to all the exiles, saying, ‘This is what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah prophesied to you, though I did not send him, and made you trust a lie,

³²this is what the LORD says: I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. There will not be even one of his descendants living among these people, nor will any ever see the good that I will bring to my people — this is the LORD’s declaration — for he has preached rebellion against the LORD.’”

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD.

²“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Write on a scroll all the words that I have spoken to you,

³for look, the days are coming” — this is the LORD’s declaration — “when I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel and Judah,” says the LORD. “I will restore them to the land I gave to their ancestors and they will possess it.”

⁴These are the words the LORD spoke to Israel and Judah.

⁵This is what the LORD says: We have heard a cry of terror, of dread — there is no peace.

⁶Ask and see whether a male can give birth. Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?

⁷How awful that day will be! There will be no other like it! It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.

⁸On that day — this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies — I will break his yoke from your neck and tear off your chains, and strangers will never again enslave him.

⁹They will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

¹⁰As for you, my servant Jacob, do not be afraid — this is the LORD’s declaration — and do not be discouraged, Israel, for without fail I will save you out of a distant place, your descendants, from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return and have calm and quiet with no one to frighten him.

¹¹For I will be with you — this is the LORD’s declaration — to save you! I will bring destruction on all the nations where I have scattered you; however, I will not bring destruction on you. I will discipline you justly, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

¹²For this is what the LORD says: Your injury is incurable; your wound most severe.

¹³You have no defender for your case. There is no remedy for your sores, and no healing for you.

¹⁴All your lovers have forgotten you; they no longer look for you, for I have struck you as an enemy would, with the discipline of someone cruel, because of your enormous guilt and your innumerable sins.

¹⁵Why do you cry out about your injury? Your pain has no cure! I have done these things to you because of your enormous guilt and your innumerable sins.

¹⁶Nevertheless, all who devoured you will be devoured, and all your adversaries — all of them — will go off into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered, and all who raid you will be raided.

¹⁷But I will bring you health and will heal you of your wounds — this is the LORD’s declaration — for they call you Outcast, Zion whom no one cares about.

¹⁸This is what the LORD says: I will certainly restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and show compassion on his dwellings. Every city will be rebuilt on its mound; every citadel will stand on its proper site.

¹⁹Thanksgiving will come out of them, a sound of rejoicing. I will multiply them, and they will not decrease; I will honor them, and they will not be insignificant.

²⁰His children will be as in past days; his congregation will be established in my presence. I will punish all his oppressors.

²¹Jacob’s leader will be one of them; his ruler will issue from him. I will invite him to me, and he will approach me, for who would otherwise risk his life to approach me? This is the LORD’s declaration.

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

²³Look, a storm from the LORD! Wrath has gone out, a churning storm. It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.

²⁴The LORD’s burning anger will not turn back until he has completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart. In time to come you will understand it.