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¹Now in the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah the prophet the son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me at the house of the LORD in the sight of the priests and all the people, saying,

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 am going to bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD’S house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from this place and brought to Babylon.

⁴I am also going to bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ ”

⁵Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the sight of the priests and in the sight of all the people who were standing at the house of the LORD,

⁶and Jeremiah the prophet said, “Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD fulfill your words which you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the LORD’S house and all the exiles, from Babylon to this place.

⁷Yet hear now this word which I am going to speak so that you and all the people can hear it!

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

⁹As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then that prophet will be known as one whom the LORD has truly sent.”

¹⁰Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it.

¹¹Hananiah spoke in the sight of all the people, saying, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Even so within two full years I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’ ” Then Jeremiah the prophet went his way.

¹²Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, saying,

¹³“Go and speak to Hananiah, saying, ‘This is what the LORD says: “You have broken the yokes of wood, but in their place you have made yokes of iron.”

¹⁴For this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. And I have also given him the animals of the field.” ’ ”

¹⁵Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen now, Hananiah: the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.

¹⁶Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am going to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to die, because you spoke falsely against the LORD.’ ”

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

¹Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²(This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the high officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalworkers had departed from Jerusalem.)

³The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,

⁴“This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:

⁵‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce.

⁶Take wives and father sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may give birth to sons and daughters; and grow in numbers there and do not decrease.

⁷Seek the prosperity of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD in its behalf; for in its prosperity will be your prosperity.’

⁸For this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst or your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to their interpretations of your dreams which you dream.

⁹For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the LORD.

¹⁰“For this is what the LORD says: ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.

¹¹For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

¹²Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

¹³And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

¹⁴I will let Myself be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

¹⁵“Because you have said, ‘The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon’—

¹⁶for this is what the LORD says concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who live in this city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile—

¹⁷this is what the LORD of armies says: ‘Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, famine, and plague; and I will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness.

¹⁸I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with plague; and I will make them an object of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and an object of horror and hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations where I have driven them,

¹⁹because they have not listened to My words,’ declares the LORD, ‘which I sent to them again and again by My servants the prophets; but you did not listen,’ declares the LORD.

²⁰‘You, therefore, hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²¹‘This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you falsely in My name: “Behold, I am going to hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your eyes.

²²Because of them a curse will be used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,’

²³because they acted foolishly in Israel, and committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and falsely spoke words in My name which I did not command them. I am He who knows, and a witness,” declares the LORD.’ ”

²⁴Now you shall speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,

²⁵“This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to the priest Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying,

²⁶“The LORD has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the overseer of the house of the LORD for every insane person who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and in the iron collar.

²⁷So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who prophesies to you,

²⁸seeing that he has sent word to us in Babylon, saying, ‘The exile will be long; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce’ ?” ’ ”

²⁹Now Zephaniah the priest read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.

³⁰Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

³¹“Send word to all the exiles, saying, ‘This is what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie,”

³²therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants; he will not have anyone living among this people, and he will not see the good that I am going to do for My people,” declares the LORD, “because he has spoken falsely against the LORD.” ’ ”

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

²“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.

³For behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The LORD says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall take possession of it.’ ”

⁴Now these are the words which the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah:

⁵“For this is what the LORD says: ‘I have heard a sound of terror, Of fear, and there is no peace.

⁶Ask now, and see If a male can give birth. Why do I see every man With his hands on his waist, as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale?

⁷Woe, for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s distress, Yet he will be saved from it.

⁸‘It shall come about on that day,’ declares the LORD of armies, ‘that I will break his yoke from their necks and will tear to pieces their restraints; and strangers will no longer make them their slaves.

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

¹⁰And do not fear, Jacob My servant,’ declares the LORD, ‘And do not be dismayed, Israel; For behold, I am going to save you from far away, And your descendants from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and be at peace, without anxiety, And no one will make him afraid.

¹¹For I am with you,’ declares the LORD, ‘to save you; For I will completely destroy all the nations where I have scattered you, Only I will not destroy you completely. But I will discipline you fairly And will by no means leave you unpunished.’

¹²“For this is what the LORD says: ‘Your broken limb is irreparable, And your wound is incurable.

¹³There is no one to plead your cause; No healing for your sore, No recovery for you.

¹⁴All your lovers have forgotten you, They do not seek you; For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, With the punishment of a cruel one, Because your wrongdoing is great, And your sins are numerous.

¹⁵Why do you cry out over your injury? Your pain is incurable. Because your wrongdoing is great And your sins are numerous, I have done these things to you.

¹⁶Therefore all who devour you will be devoured; And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity; And those who plunder you will become plunder, And all who plunder you I will turn into plunder.

¹⁷For I will restore you to health And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares the LORD, ‘Because they have called you an outcast, saying: “It is Zion; no one cares for her.” ’

¹⁸“This is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob And have compassion on his dwellings; And the city will be rebuilt on its ruins, And the palace will stand on its rightful place.

¹⁹From them will come a song of thanksgiving And the voices of those who celebrate; And I will multiply them and they will not decrease; I will honor them and they will not be insignificant.

²⁰Their children also will be as before, And their congregation will be established before Me; And I will punish all their oppressors.

²¹Their leader shall be one of them, And their ruler will come out from their midst; And I will bring him near and he shall approach Me; For who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?’ declares the LORD.

²²‘You shall be My people, And I will be your God.’ ”

²³Behold, the tempest of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, A sweeping tempest; It will whirl upon the head of the wicked.

²⁴The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has performed and accomplished The intent of His heart. In the latter days you will understand this.