The Lord Made Nebuchadnezzar Ruler

27 A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It came during the fourth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah.* Zedekiah was the son of King Josiah. ²This is what the Lord said to me: “Jeremiah, make a yoke* out of straps and poles. Put that yoke on the back of your neck. ³Then send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. Send the messages with the messengers of these kings that have come to Jerusalem to see Zedekiah king of Judah. ⁴Tell those messengers to give this message to their masters. Tell them, ‘The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: Tell your masters that ⁵I made the earth and all the people on it. I made all the animals on the earth. I did this with my great power and my strong arm. I can give the earth to anyone I want. ⁶Now I have given all your countries to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He is my servant. I will make even the wild animals obey him. ⁷All nations will serve Nebuchadnezzar and his son and his grandson. Then the time will come for Babylon to be defeated. Many nations and great kings will make Babylon their servant. ⁸“‘But now, some nations or kingdoms might refuse to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They might refuse to put his yoke* on their necks. If that happens, this is what I will do: I will punish that nation with sword, hunger, and terrible sickness.’” This message is from the Lord. “I will do that until I destroy that nation. I will use Nebuchadnezzar to destroy the nation that fights against him. ⁹So don’t listen to your prophets. Don’t listen to the people that use magic to tell what will happen in the future. Don’t listen to people that say they can interpret dreams. Don’t listen to people that talk to the dead or to people that practice magic. All those people tell you, “You will not be slaves to the king of Babylon.” ¹⁰But those people are telling you lies. They will only cause you to be taken far from your homeland. I will force you to leave your homes. And you will die in another land. ¹¹“‘But the nations that put their necks under the yoke* of the king of Babylon and obey him will live. I will let those nations stay in their own country and serve the king of Babylon.’” This message is from the Lord. “‘The people from those nations will live in their own land and farm it. ¹²“‘I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah. I said, “Zedekiah, you must place your neck under the yoke* of the king of Babylon and obey him. If you serve the king of Babylon and his people, then you will live. ¹³If you don’t agree to serve the king of Babylon, then you and your people will die from the enemy’s sword, from hunger, and from terrible sicknesses. The Lord said those things will happen. ¹⁴But the false prophets are saying: You will never be slaves to the king of Babylon. “‘Don’t listen to those prophets, because they are preaching lies to you. ¹⁵I didn’t send those prophets.’” This message is from the Lord. “They are preaching lies and saying that the message is from me. So, I will send you people of Judah away. You will die. And those prophets that preach to you will die also.” ¹⁶Then I (Jeremiah) said to the priests and all those people, “The Lord says: Those false prophets are saying, ‘The Babylonians took many things from the Lord’s temple.* Those things will be brought back soon.’ Don’t listen to those prophets because they are preaching lies to you. ¹⁷Don’t listen to those prophets. Serve the king of Babylon. Accept your punishment, and you will live. There is no reason for you to cause this city of Jerusalem to be destroyed. ¹⁸If those men are prophets and have the message from the Lord, let them pray. Let them pray about the things that are still in the Lord’s temple. Let them pray about the things that are still in the king’s palace. And let them pray about the things that are still in Jerusalem. Let those prophets pray that all those things will not be taken away to Babylon.” ¹⁹The Lord All-Powerful says this about those things that are still left in Jerusalem. In the temple,* there are the pillars, the bronze sea, the moveable stands, and other things.* Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, left those things in Jerusalem. ²⁰Nebuchadnezzar didn’t take those things away at the time he took Jehoiachin king of Judah away as a prisoner. Jehoiachin was the son of King Jehoiakim. Nebuchadnezzar also took other important people away from Judah and Jerusalem. ²¹The Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says this about the things still left in the Lord’s temple, and in the king’s palace and in Jerusalem: “All of those things will also be taken to Babylon. ²²Those things will be brought to Babylon until the day comes when I go to get them.” This message is from the Lord. “Then I will bring those things back. I will put those things back in this place.”

the fourth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah The Hebrew has, “At the beginning of the kingship of Jehoiakim.” This is probably a scribal error. Vs. 3 talks about Zedekiah. Jer. 28:1 mentions the fourth year: 594–593 B.C. yoke A pole that was put on the shoulders of men or animals to help them carry or pull things. This often showed that a person was a slave. temple The special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship. other things For a description of these things, see 1 Kings 7:23–37.

The False Prophet Hananiah

28 In the fifth month of the fourth year* that Zedekiah was king of Judah, Hananiah the prophet spoke to me. Hananiah was the son of a man named Azzur. Hananiah was from the town of Gibeon. Hananiah was in the Lord’s temple when he spoke to me. The priests and all the people were there also. This is what Hananiah said: ²“The Lord All- Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke* that the king of Babylon has put on the people of Judah. ³Before two years are over, I will bring back all the things that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from the Lord’s temple. Nebuchadnezzar has carried those things to Babylon. But I will bring those things back here to Jerusalem. ⁴I will also bring Jehoiachin king of Judah back to this place. Jehoiachin is the son of Jehoiakim. And I will bring back all those people of Judah that Nebuchadnezzar forced to leave their homes and go to Babylon.’ This message is from the Lord. ‘So I will break the yoke that the king of Babylon put on the people of Judah!’” ⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah answered the prophet Hananiah. They were standing in the temple of the Lord. The priests and all the people there could hear Jeremiah’s answer. ⁶Jeremiah said to Hananiah, “Amen!* I hope the Lord will really do that! I hope the Lord will make the message you preach come true. I hope the Lord will bring the things of the Lord’s temple* back to this place from Babylon. And I hope the Lord will bring all the people that were forced to leave their homes back to this place. ⁷“But listen to what I must say, Hananiah. Listen to what I say to all you people. ⁸There were prophets long before you and I became prophets, Hananiah. They preached that war, hunger, and terrible sicknesses would come to many countries and great kingdoms. ⁹But the prophet that preaches that we will have peace must be tested to see if he truly was sent by the Lord. If the message of that prophet comes true, then people can know that he truly was sent by the Lord.” ¹⁰Jeremiah was wearing a yoke* around his neck. Then the prophet Hananiah took that yoke from Jeremiah’s neck. Hananiah broke that yoke. ¹¹Then Hananiah spoke loudly, so all the people could hear him. He said, “The Lord says: ‘In the same way I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He put that yoke on all the nations of the world. But I will break that yoke before two years are over.’” After Hananiah said that, Jeremiah left the temple.* ¹²Then the message of the Lord came to Jeremiah. This happened after Hananiah had taken the yoke* off of Jeremiah’s neck and had broken it. ¹³The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Go and tell Hananiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke. But I will make a yoke of iron in the place of the wooden yoke.’ ¹⁴The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will put a yoke of iron on the necks of all these nations. I will do that to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And they will be slaves to him. I will even give Nebuchadnezzar control over the wild animals.’” ¹⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you. But you have made the people of Judah trust in lies. ¹⁶So this is what the Lord says, ‘Soon I will take you from this world, Hananiah. You will die this year. Why? Because you taught the people to turn against the Lord.’” ¹⁷Hananiah died in the seventh month of that same year.

fourth year This was about 593 B.C. yoke A pole that was put on the shoulders of men or animals to help them carry or pull things. This often showed that a person was a slave. Amen A Hebrew word meaning “truly,” “indeed.” It is used to show that a person agrees with what has been said. temple The special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship.

A Letter to the Jewish Captives in Babylon

29 Jeremiah sent a letter to the Jewish captives* in Babylon. He sent it to the elders (leaders), the priests, the prophets, and all the other people that were living in Babylon. These were the people that Nebuchadnezzar took from Jerusalem and brought to Babylon. ²(This letter was sent after King Jehoiachin, the queen mother, the officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the carpenters, and the metal workers had been taken from Jerusalem.) ³Zedekiah sent Elasah and Gemariah to King Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah was the king of Judah. Elasah was the son of Shaphan. And Gemariah was the son of Hilkiah. Jeremiah gave the letter to those men to take to Babylon. This is what the letter said: ⁴The Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says these things to all those people he sent into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵“Build houses and live in them. Settle in the land. Plant gardens and eat the food you grow. ⁶Get married and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons. And let your daughters be married. Do that so they also may have sons and daughters. Have many children and grow in number in Babylon. Don’t become fewer in number. ⁷Also, do good things for the city I sent you to. Pray to the Lord for the city you are living in. Why? Because if there is peace in that city, then you will have peace also.” ⁸The Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says: “Don’t let your prophets and the people that practice magic fool you. Don’t listen to the dreams they have. ⁹They are preaching lies. And they are saying that their message is from me. But I didn’t send it.” This message is from the Lord. ¹⁰This is what the Lord says: “Babylon will be powerful for 70 years. After that time, I will come to you people that are living in Babylon. I will keep my good promise to bring you back to Jerusalem. ¹¹I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future. ¹²Then you people will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me. And I will listen to you. ¹³You people will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me. ¹⁴I will let you find me.” This message is from the Lord. “And I will bring you back from your captivity. I forced you to leave this place. But I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have sent you,”—this message is from the Lord—“and I will bring you back to this place.” ¹⁵You people might say, “But the Lord has given us prophets here in Babylon.” ¹⁶But the Lord says these things about your relatives that were not carried away to Babylon. I am talking about the king that is sitting on David’s throne now and all the other people that are still in the city of Jerusalem. ¹⁷The Lord All-Powerful says: “I will soon send the sword, hunger, and terrible sicknesses against those people that are still in Jerusalem. And I will make them the same as bad figs, which are too rotten to eat. ¹⁸I will chase those people that are still in Jerusalem with the sword, with hunger, and terrible sicknesses. And I will make it so that all the kingdoms of the earth will be frightened at what has happened to those people. Those people will be destroyed. People will whistle with amazement when they hear about the things that happened. And people use them as an example when they ask for bad things to happen to people. People will insult them wherever I force those people to go. ¹⁹I will make all those things happen because those people of Jerusalem have not listened to my message.” This message is from the Lord. “I sent my message to them again and again. I used my servants, the prophets, to give my messages to those people. But the people didn’t listen.” This message is from the Lord. ²⁰“You people are captives.* I forced you to leave Jerusalem and go to Babylon. So, listen to the message from the Lord.” ²¹The Lord All-Powerful says this about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah: “These two men have been preaching lies to you. They have said that their message is from me. {But they were lying.} I will give those two prophets to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And Nebuchadnezzar will kill those prophets in front of all you people that are captives in Babylon. ²²All of the Jewish captives will use those men as examples when they ask for bad things to happen to other people. Those captives will say: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab. The king of Babylon burned those two in the fire!’ ²³Those two prophets did very bad things among the people of Israel. They did the sin of adultery* with their neighbors’ wives. They also spoke lies and said those lies were a message from me, the Lord. I did not tell them to do those things. I know what they have done. I am a witness.” This message is from the Lord.

God’s Message to Shemaiah

²⁴Also give a message to Shemaiah. Shemaiah is from the Nehelam family. ²⁵The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “Shemaiah, you sent letters to all the people in Jerusalem. And you sent letters to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. You also sent letters to all the priests. You sent those letters in your own name and not by the authority of the Lord. ²⁶Shemaiah, this is what you said in your letter to Zephaniah: ‘Zephaniah, the Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada. You are to be in charge of the Lord’s temple. You should arrest anyone that acts like a crazy person* and acts like a prophet. You should put that person’s feet between large blocks of wood and put neck-irons* on him. ²⁷Now, Jeremiah is acting like a prophet. So why have you not arrested him? ²⁸Jeremiah has sent this message to us in Babylon: “You people in Babylon will be there for a long time. So build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what you grow.’” ²⁹Zephaniah the priest read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰Then the message from the Lord came to Jeremiah: ³¹“Jeremiah, send this message to all the captives* in Babylon: ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah, the man from the Nehelam family: Shemaiah has preached to you, but I didn’t send him. Shemaiah has made you believe a lie. ³²Because Shemaiah has done that, this is what the Lord says: I will soon punish Shemaiah, the man from the Nehelam family. I will completely destroy his family. And he will not share in the good things I will do for my people.’” This message is from the Lord. “‘I will punish Shemaiah because he has taught the people to turn against the Lord.’”

captives People taken away like prisoners. Here this means the Jewish people that were taken to Babylon. adultery Breaking the marriage promise by sexual sin. crazy person Shemaiah is referring to Jeremiah here. See verses 27–28. neck-iron(s) A ring made from iron. People put the rings around prisoners necks. They often fastened a chain to the ring to control the prisoners.