Jeremiah 21-33
New Catholic Bible
Prophecies in the Last Years of Jerusalem[a]
Chapter 21
God’s Response to Zedekiah’s Prayer. 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, and the priest Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, with this request, 2 “Please inquire of the Lord on our behalf, because Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will perform one of his wonderful works for us as he has done in the past and force him to withdraw.”
3 However, Jeremiah replied to them, “This is what you are to say to Zedekiah: 4 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I will turn against you the weapons of war with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls, and I will gather them together in the center of the city. 5 I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and mighty arm, in anger, fury, and great rage.
6 “I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They will die as the result of a terrible plague. 7 After that, says the Lord, I will deliver King Zedekiah of Judah and his servants and the people, all those in this city who have managed to survive pestilence, war, and famine, into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and into the hands of their enemies and those who are determined to slay them. He will put them to the sword and show them no pity or mercy or compassion.
8 “You are to say further to this people: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am offering you a choice between the way of life and the way of death. 9 Whoever remains in this city will die by the sword, by famine, or by pestilence, but those who leave and surrender to the Chaldeans who are now besieging you will survive and escape with their lives. 10 For I am determined that this city must endure disaster and not revel in prosperity, says the Lord. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it to the ground.”
Prophecies concerning the Kings
11 To the royal houses of Judah, say:
Listen to the word of the Lord.
12 O house of David,
thus says the Lord:
Dispense justice each morning
and deliver the victim from his oppressor,
lest my wrath burst forth like fire
that burns and cannot be quenched
because of your evil deeds.
13 [b]Beware! I am against you,
O residents of the valley,
O rock of the plain, says the Lord,
you who say, “Who can possibly attack us and penetrate our places of refuge?”
14 I will punish you, says the Lord,
as your deeds deserve.
I will kindle a fire in your forests,
and it will devour everything around it.
Chapter 22
1 Thus said the Lord to me: Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and there deliver this message: 2 Listen to the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, as you sit on the throne of David—you, your officials, and your people who enter through these gates. 3 Thus says the Lord: Act justly and with righteousness, and rescue the victim from the hand of his oppressor. Do not ill-treat aliens, orphans, and widows, or show violence toward them, or shed innocent blood in this place.
4 If you will indeed be faithful in carrying out these commands, then the kings who succeed to the throne of David will continue to enter through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots or on horseback—they, their officials, and their people. 5 But if you do not obey these commands, then I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this palace will become a ruin.
6 For thus says the Lord concerning the palace of the king of Judah:
Although you are like Gilead to me,
like a peak of Lebanon,
I swear that I will turn you into a desert,
an uninhabited city.
7 I will send forth destroyers to annihilate you,
each man equipped with his weapons.
They will cut down your finest cedars
and cast them into the fire.
8 People from many nations will pass by this city, and they will ask one another, “Why has the Lord dealt in this manner with this great city?” 9 And the answer will be given, “Because they abandoned their covenant with the Lord, their God, in order to worship other gods and serve them.”
Jehoahaz
10 Do not weep for the man who is dead;
mourn not for him.
Weep rather for him who has gone into exile,
for he will never return again
to see the land of his birth.
11 For thus says the Lord about Shallum, the son of King Josiah of Judah, who succeeded his father Josiah as king and was forced to leave this place, “He will never return. 12 Rather, he will die in the place where he was sent into exile, and he will never see this land again.”
Jehoiakim
13 Woe to the man who builds his house without righteousness
and his upper room with injustice,
who forces his neighbors to work for nothing
and gives them no recompense for their labor,
14 who says, “I will build myself a spacious home
with large upper rooms,”
and who inserts windows in it,
panels it with cedar,
and paints it with vermilion.
15 Are you any better a king
because your cedar is so splendid?
Did not your father have enough to eat and drink?
But because he did what was right and just,
all went well with him.
16 Because he dispensed justice to the poor and needy
things continued to go well for him.
Is this not what it means to know me?
asks the Lord.
17 But your eyes and your heart
are concerned only with your own interests;
you do not hesitate to shed innocent blood
and to perpetrate oppression and violence.
18 Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah, the son of Josiah:
They will not lament for him, saying,
“Alas, my brother!” or “Alas, sister!”
They will not mourn for him.
“Alas, my master!” “Alas, his splendor!”
19 He will be buried like a dead donkey
dragged forth and cast out
beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
Jeconiah
20 Go up to Lebanon and cry out;
lift up your voice in Bashan.
Cry out from Abarim,
for all your lovers have been crushed.[c]
21 I spoke to you when you enjoyed prosperity,
but you replied, “I will not listen.”
You have behaved this way from your youth,
refusing to listen to my voice.
22 The wind will carry away all your shepherds,
and your lovers will go off into captivity.
Then you will be ashamed and blush
because of all your wickedness.
23 You who live in Lebanon
and make your nest among the cedars,
how you will groan when anguish overcomes you,
pangs like those of a woman in labor.
24 As I live, says the Lord, even if you, King Coniah of Judah, the son of Jehoiakim, were the signet ring on my right hand, I would still tear you off 25 and deliver you into the hands of those who seek your life, into the hands of those whom you fear, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hands of the Chaldeans. 26 I will fling you and the mother who bore you into another country, where neither of you were born, and there you both will die. 27 You will never return to the country to which you so desperately long to return.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised damaged pot,
a vessel in which no one is interested?
Why are he and his offspring cast out
and thrown into a land
that they know nothing about?
29 O land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
30 Thus says the Lord:
Designate this man as childless,
a man who will not prosper during his lifetime.
No descendant of his will succeed;
none will sit on the throne of David
or rule again over Judah.
Chapter 23
Messianic Oracles. 1 Woe to the shepherds who lead astray and scatter the sheep of my pasture, says the Lord. 2 Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has to say in regard to the shepherds who shepherd my people: You have scattered my flock and driven them away, and you showed not the slightest concern about taking care of them. Therefore, I will not hesitate to punish you for your evil deeds, says the Lord.
3 I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their meadows where they will be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will appoint shepherds for them who will treat them kindly, so that they will no longer fear or experience terror, nor will any be discovered missing, says the Lord.
5 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will raise up a righteous branch
from the line of David.
He will reign as king and rule wisely
and ensure justice and righteousness in the land.
6 In his days Judah will live in safety,
and Israel will dwell in security.
And this is the name that will be given to him:
“The Lord Our Righteousness.”
7 Therefore, the days are coming, says the Lord, when people will no longer say, “As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt,” 8 but rather, “As the Lord lives who brought forth the offspring of the house of Israel up from the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had dispersed them.” Then they will again inhabit their own land.
The False Prophets[d]
9 As for the prophets,
my heart is broken within me,
and all my bones never cease to tremble.
I have become like a drunken man,
like someone overcome with wine,
because of the Lord
and because of his holy words.
10 For the land swarms with adulterers;
because of them the country mourns
and the pastures in the desert have withered.
11 Both the prophets and the priests are godless;
even in my own house have I observed their wickedness,
says the Lord.
12 Therefore, they will find that the paths they travel
will be slippery beneath their feet;
in the darkness where they are driven,
they will fall headlong.
For I will inflict disaster upon them
in the year of their punishment,
says the Lord.
13 Among the prophets of Samaria
I beheld this repulsive deed:
they prophesied in the name of Baal
and led my people astray.
14 But among the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen deeds that are even more shocking:
they commit adultery and persist in lying
and uphold those who are evil
so that no one turns away from wickedness.
To me they have all become like Sodom,
and its inhabitants are like Gomorrah.
15 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts in regard to the prophets:
I intend to give them wormwood to eat
and force them to drink poisoned water.
For from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has spread throughout the land.
16 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Do not listen to the words of the prophets;
their prophecies are designed to delude you.
They concoct visions from their own minds
and not from the mouth of the Lord.
17 To those who despise the word of the Lord
they say, “Peace will be yours.”
To those who follow their own stubborn inclinations
they say, “No harm will befall you.”
18 Yet which of them has stood in the council of the Lord
to see or to hear his word?
Which of them has heeded his word and proclaimed it?
19 Behold the storm of the Lord!
His wrath bursts forth
like a frightening tempest
that whirls around the heads of the wicked.
20 The anger of the Lord will not subside
until he has fully accomplished
the purposes he has in mind.
When the time comes,
you will understand this clearly.
21 I did not send these prophets,
yet they went forth in haste.
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,
they would have then proclaimed my words to my people
and caused them to turn back from their evil ways
and from the wickedness of their deeds.
23 The Lord asks:
Am I a God only when I am near at hand,
but not when I am far away?
24 Can someone hide in a secret place
so that I cannot see him?
Do I not fill heaven and earth?
25 I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. “I have had a dream,” they cry out. “I have had a dream.” 26 How much longer must we endure prophets who prophesy lies and proclaim their own delusions? 27 By means of the dreams that they relate to one another, they believe that they will make my people forget my name, just as their fathers forgot my name and replaced it with Baal. 28 Let the prophet who has a dream relate his dream, but let the one who receives my word deliver it truthfully.
What does straw have in common with wheat?
asks the Lord.
29 Is not my word like fire, says the Lord,
like a hammer shattering a rock?
30 Therefore, says the Lord, I have set myself in opposition to the prophets who steal my words from one another. 31 I am against those prophets who concoct their own prophecies and then assert, “Thus says the Lord.” 32 I am against those prophets who prophesy lying dreams, says the Lord, and then recount them, thereby leading my people astray with their lies and reckless bragging. They have not received any commission from me, and so they are of no benefit to this people in any way, says the Lord.
33 And when this people or a prophet or a priest asks you, “What is the burden of the Lord?” you are to reply, “You are the burden, and I will cast you off,” says the Lord. 34 If a prophet or a priest or anyone else speaks of “the burden of the Lord,” I will punish that man and his household.
35 Therefore, when speaking to one another, you are to ask, “What answer did the Lord give?” or “What did the Lord say?” 36 But you must never again speak of “the burden of the Lord,” because each man’s word becomes his own burden, and you therefore pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God.
37 Therefore, you are to ask a prophet, “What answer has the Lord given?” or “What has the Lord said?” 38 But if you say “the burden of the Lord,” the Lord will reply, “Because you have used the words ‘the burden of the Lord’ when I forbade you to use that expression, 39 therefore, I will lift you up and cast you away from my presence, both you and the city that I gave to you and your ancestors. 40 And I will inflict upon you everlasting disgrace and eternal and unforgettable shame.”
Chapter 24[e]
The Good and Bad Figs. 1 The Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord. This occurred after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had exiled from Jerusalem Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, the artisans, and the skilled workers, and brought them to Babylon. 2 One basket contained excellent figs that tend to ripen early; the other basket had figs of an extremely poor quality, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “Figs,” I answered. “The good figs are superb, but the poor ones are so bad that they are not fit to eat.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Just as these figs are good, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will watch over them carefully to ensure their welfare, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them a heart that will enable them to know that I am the Lord. They will be my people and I will be their God, for they will return to me with their whole heart.
8 As for the bad figs that are so dreadful that they cannot be eaten, thus says the Lord: In the same way I will treat King Zedekiah of Judah and his princes, the remnant of Jerusalem remaining in this land, and those who live in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all the places where I will drive them. 10 And I will send against them the sword, famine, and pestilence, until they have completely vanished from the land that I gave to them and their ancestors.
Chapter 25[f]
Seventy Years of Captivity.[g] 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim of Judah, the son of Josiah, which was the first year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. 2 The prophet Jeremiah thus spoke as follows to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem:
3 For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of King Josiah of Judah, the son of Amon, until this very day—the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you unceasingly, but you have not listened. 4 And though the Lord continued to send all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you refused to listen or to pay any heed to their message when they warned, 5 “If you turn back, each of you, from your evil ways and your wicked deeds, says the Lord, you can remain in the land that I have given to you and to your fathers forever. 6 If you do not follow other gods to serve and worship them, and you do not provoke me with what your hands have made, then I will not harm you. 7 But you have not listened to me, says the Lord, and thus you have provoked me to anger with your handiwork to your own harm.”
8 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I intend to summon all the tribes of the north, says the Lord, as well as my servant Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will totally destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn and everlasting disgrace. 10 No longer will there emerge from them the sounds of rejoicing and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This entire country will become a wasteland of desolation, and these nations will be enslaved to the king of Babylon for seventy years.
12 However, at the end of those seventy years, says the Lord, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, and I will turn it into a desolate wasteland. 13 [h]I will inflict upon that land all the scourges that I threatened against it, everything written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. 14 Mighty nations and powerful kings will reduce them to a life of slavery, and thus I will requite them as their deeds and their handiwork deserve.
15 The Cup of Wrath on the Nations. For these are the words that the Lord, the God of Israel, proclaimed to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand and command all the nations to whom I send you to drink from it. 16 After they drink, they will stagger and become mad because of the sword that I am inflicting upon them.”
17 Therefore, I took the cup from the hand of the Lord and ordered all the nations to whom the Lord had sent me to drink from it: 18 Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, to transform them into a desolate ruin and a desert, an object of ridicule and cursing, as they are today; 19 Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, and all his people, 20 with the various groupings of people: all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines—Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; 21 Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and all the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who have shaven temples; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed peoples that dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, both close neighbors and those who are distant from each other—in other words, all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. And, last of all, the king of Sheshach[i] shall drink.
27 Then say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink! Get drunk and vomit! Fall down, never to rise again, because of the sword that I am sending against you. 28 Should they refuse to accept the cup from your hand and drink, then you are to say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: You must drink! 29 Behold, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that is called by my name. Do you believe that you can possibly avoid punishment? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, says the Lord of hosts.
30 Therefore, prophesy against them all these words and proclaim to them:
The Lord roars from on high;
he thunders from his holy dwelling place.
He will roar mightily against his fold;
like those who tread the grapes, she shouts aloud
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 The uproar will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against the nations,
he will pass judgment upon all mankind
and put the wicked to the sword.
This the Lord has sworn.
32 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Behold, disaster is spreading
from nation to nation,
and a mighty storm has been unleashed
from the farthest corners of the earth.
33 Those whom the Lord has slain on that day will be scattered from one end of the earth to the other. No one will mourn for them. Nor will they be gathered up for burial. Rather, they will become like dung spread over the surface of the ground.
34 Wail, you shepherds, and weep aloud;
roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock.
The time for you to be slaughtered has arrived;
you will fall and be shattered
like a valuable vase.
35 The shepherds have no place to seek refuge;
the leaders of the flock have no way of escape.
36 Listen to the cry of the shepherds
and the wails from the lords of the flock.
For the Lord has ravaged their pasture,
37 and their peaceful sheepfolds lie in ruins
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
38 Like a lion he has abandoned his lair,
for their land has become a desolate waste
because of the sword of the oppressor
and the fierce anger of the Lord.
Chapter 26
Jeremiah’s Arrest and Conviction.[j][k] 1 At the beginning of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, the son of Josiah, this word came from the Lord to Jeremiah: 2 Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the Lord’s house and speak to all the people from the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the Lord. Tell them everything I order you to say, without omitting a single word. 3 Perhaps they will listen and all of them will turn from their evil ways, causing me to relent in my determination to inflict disaster upon them because of their evil deeds.
4 Say to them: Thus says the Lord: If you refuse to listen to me and to live according to my law that I have set before you, 5 and if you fail to heed the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send to you time and again even though you do not listen to them, 6 then I will treat this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city an object of cursing for all the nations of the earth.
7 The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the Lord. 8 But when Jeremiah had finished saying everything that the Lord had commanded him to proclaim to all the people, then the priests, the prophets, and all the people seized him and cried out, “You will be put to death for this. 9 Why have you prophesied in the Lord’s name that this house will be like Shiloh and that this city will be desolate and deserted?” And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.
10 When the high officials of Judah heard what was happening, they came up from the king’s palace to the house of the Lord and took their places there at the entry of the New Gate[l] of the house of the Lord. 11 The priests and the prophets then addressed the officials and all the people, saying, “This man deserves to be condemned to death because he has prophesied against this city all the things that you heard with your own ears.”
12 Then Jeremiah replied to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The Lord himself sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the things you have heard. 13 Now, therefore, if you amend your ways and your actions and listen to the word of the Lord, your God, the Lord will relent in his determination to inflict the disaster that he has decreed for you. 14 As for me, I am in your hands. Do with me whatever seems right and proper to you. 15 However, you can be certain that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants. For truly the Lord sent me to speak all these things for you to hear.”
16 Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve to be sentenced to death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord, our God.” 17 And some of the elders of the land came forward and said to all the assembled people, 18 “Micah of Moresheth, who prophesied during the days of King Hezekiah of Judah, proclaimed this to all the people of Judah: Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Zion will become a plowed field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
and the temple mount a wooded height.
19 “Did King Hezekiah of Judah and the people of Judah put him to death for this? Rather, did they not fear the Lord and entreat his favor, and did the Lord then not revoke the disaster with which he had threatened them? Are we not on the verge of inflicting a terrible disaster upon ourselves?”
20 The Prophet Uriah’s Fate. There was also another man who used to prophesy in the name of the Lord, Uriah, the son of Shemaiah, from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied exactly the same things against this city and this land just as Jeremiah had done. 21 When King Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and officials, heard his words, the king was determined to put Uriah to death. However, Uriah learned of this plot and fled in fear to Egypt.
22 Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan, the son of Achbor, to Egypt with some other men. 23 They brought back Uriah from Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him put to the sword and consigned his dead body into the burial place used for common people.
24 However Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, gave his support to Jeremiah, and as a result, Jeremiah was not handed over to the people to be put to death.
Chapter 27
Jeremiah’s Message.[m] 1 At the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, the son of Josiah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 Thus said the Lord to me: Collect for yourself some straps and crossbars and put them on your neck as a yoke. 3 Then send word to the kings of Edom, of Moab, of the Ammonites, of Tyre, and of Sidon, through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to visit Zedekiah, the king of Judah.
4 Give them the following message for their masters: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you are to say to your masters: 5 It was I who, by my great power and my outstretched arm, made the earth as well as the people and the animals that inhabit the earth, and I can give it to whomever I wish.
6 Now, at the present time, I have given all these lands to my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and I have even made the wild animals subject to him. 7 All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his land will also come, and mighty nations and great kings will make him their slave. 8 But in the meantime, if any nation or kingdom will not serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon or submit its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, then I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, says the Lord, until I have ensured their destruction by his hand.
9 You, therefore, must not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, and your sorcerers when they say to you that you are not to serve the king of Babylon. 10 For they are prophesying a lie to you, as a result of which you will be removed far away from your land. I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 However, if a nation is prepared to submit its neck to the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave it in peace on its own land, says the Lord, to till it and live there.
12 I addressed the identical message to King Zedekiah of Judah: Submit your necks to the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and you will live. 13 Why should you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as the Lord has promised to any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 Do not listen to the words of those prophets who are urging you not to serve the king of Babylon, for they are prophesying lies to you. 15 I have not sent them, says the Lord, but they are prophesying falsely in my name. As a result, I will drive you out, and you will perish, as will all the prophets who are prophesying to you.
16 Then I spoke to the priests and all the prophets as follows: Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who say, “In a very short time, the vessels of the house of the Lord will be brought back from Babylon.” They are prophesying lies to you. 17 Refuse to listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and you will save your lives. Why should this city become a pile of ruins?
18 If they are truly prophets and the word of the Lord is really with them, then they should be pleading with the Lord of hosts that the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem will not be carried away to Babylon.
19 For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea,[n] the stands, and the rest of the vessels that remain in this city, 20 which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon did not carry away when he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon King Jeconiah of Judah, the son of Jehoiakim, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. 21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, in regard to the vessels that still remain in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: 22 They will be carried off to Babylon, and there they will remain, until the day when I turn my attention to them, says the Lord. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.
Chapter 28
Breaking the Yokes. 1 During 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, the son of Azzur, from Gibeon, said to the prophet Jeremiah in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the house of the Lord that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from this place and carried off to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place King Jeconiah of Judah, the son of Jehoiakim, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon, says the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord. 6 He said, “Amen. May the Lord do so. May the Lord fulfill the words that you have prophesied by bringing the vessels of the house of the Lord and all the exiles back from Babylon to this place. 7 But now, listen carefully to what I am going to say for you and all the people to hear. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me in ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence for many countries and for great kingdoms. 9 However, the prophet who prophesies peace can be recognized as one who has been truly sent by God only when his word comes true.
10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it, 11 as he announced in the presence of all the people, “Thus says the Lord: This is how I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of the nations within two years.” On hearing this, the prophet Jeremiah departed.
12 A short time after the prophet Hananiah had removed the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broken it, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, 13 “Go to Hananiah and tell him this: Thus says the Lord: You have broken a wooden yoke, only to have it replaced with a yoke of iron. 14 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I will place a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations and force them to serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. They will become his slaves. I have even given him the wild animals.”
15 Then the prophet Jeremiah further said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen carefully, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, and you have led this people to trust in false prophecies. 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘I intend to remove you from the face of the earth. Before this year comes to a close, you will be dead, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.’ ”
17 During that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.
Chapter 29
The Letter to the Exiles. 1 This is the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to 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 court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the skilled workmen had gone into exile from Jerusalem. 3 He entrusted the letter to Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and to Gema-riah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had sent to Babylon, to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The letter stated:
4 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and beget sons and daughters; choose wives for your sons and husbands for your daughters, so that they may bring forth sons and daughters. While you are there, you must increase in number, not decrease.
7 In addition, seek to promote the prosperity of the city to which I have exiled you. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for on its welfare will depend your welfare. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not be deceived by the prophets and the diviners who are in your midst or listen to the dreams they relate, 9 for they are prophesying lies to you in my name. I did not send them, says the Lord.
10 For thus says the Lord: When the seventy years that I have granted to Babylon have been completed, I will visit you and fulfill my promise to you and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know full well the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for your misfortune, plans that will offer you a future filled with hope.
12 When you call out to me and come forth and pray to me, I will listen to you. 13 When you search for me, you will find me. When you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will allow you to discover me, says the Lord. I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and from 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 You have said that the Lord has raised up prophets for you in Babylon. 16 This is what the Lord has to say concerning the king who sits on the throne of David and concerning all the people who live in this city, your countrymen who did not go forth with you into exile: 17 Thus says the Lord of hosts: I will afflict them with sword, famine, and pestilence; I will make them like rotten figs that are so repulsive they cannot be eaten.
18 I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth. They will be an object of cursing and horror, of scorn and derision, to all the nations among whom I have driven them. 19 For they refused to listen to my words, says the Lord, despite the fact that I persisted in sending them my servants the prophets. They continued in their stubbornness and refused to listen, says the Lord.
20 But now, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon, hear the voice of the Lord. 21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy lies to you in my name: I intend to hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes.
22 Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who were sent to Babylon will use this curse. “May the Lord make you like Zede-kiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted to death in a blazing fire.” 23 For they have perpetrated outrageous crimes in Israel; not only did they commit adultery with their neighbors’ wives, but in my name they have spoken lies that I never commanded them to utter. I know these things and bear witness to them, says the Lord.
24 Prophecy of Shemaiah. Address these words to Shemaiah the Nehelamite. 25 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Acting on your own authority, you have sent a letter to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, and to all the other priests 26 asserting that the Lord has appointed you as priest in place of Jehoiada, and that you are to appoint officers to be in charge of the Lord’s house and place any madman into the stocks or the pillory who poses as a prophet. 27 Why then have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who poses as a prophet among you? 28 He has even sent us a message in Babylon, saying, ‘It will be a long time. Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’ ”
29 When the priest Zephaniah read this letter to the prophet Jeremiah, 30 the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 31 “Send this message to all of the exiles. ‘Thus says the Lord in regard to Shemaiah of Nehelam, “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you even though I did not send him to do so, and has led you to place your trust in false prophecies, 32 therefore, says the Lord, I intend to punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. None of them will survive among this people to witness the happiness that I will bestow on my people, says the Lord, because he has preached rebellion against the Lord.” ’ ”
Chapter 30
Israel Restored.[o] 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. 3 For the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel and Judah, and I will bring them back to take possession of the land that I gave to their ancestors.
4 These are the words that the Lord spoke in regard to Israel and Judah:
5 Thus says the Lord:
We have heard a cry of panic,
of terror, not of peace.
6 Inquire now and see:
Can a man bear a child?
Why then do I see every man grasping his loins
like a woman in labor?
Why has every face turned pale?
7 How frightening that day will be!
There will be none like it.
It will be a time of anguish for Jacob,
although he will be saved from it.
8 On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will break off the yoke from your necks, and I will snap your bonds. Strangers will no longer enslave you. 9 Instead, Israel and Judah will serve the Lord, their God, and David, their king, whom I will raise up for them.
10 Therefore, do not be afraid, Jacob my servant,
and do not despair, O Israel, says the Lord.
Behold, I will rescue you from distant countries
and your descendants from the land of their captivity.
Jacob will return and live in peace,
tranquil, with no one to trouble him.
11 For I am with you, and I will save you,
says the Lord.
I will totally destroy the nations
among whom I have scattered you,
but I will not make an end of you.
However, I will chastise you as you deserve;
I will not allow you to go unpunished.
12 For thus says the Lord:
Your wound is incurable,
your injury is serious.
13 There is no one to plead your cause,
no remedy for your wound,
no healing available for you.
14 All of your friends have forgotten you;
they have ceased to think of you.
I have struck you as an enemy strikes
and punished you cruelly.
15 Why do you cry out over your wound?
Your pain is incurable.
I have treated you in this way
because of your great guilt
and your numerous sins.
16 But all those who devour you will be devoured;
all your enemies will go into exile.
All those who plunder you will be plundered,
and all those who pillage you will be pillaged.
17 For I will restore you to health
and heal your wounds, says the Lord,
because you were called an outcast,
with no one to avenge you.
18 Thus says the Lord:
I will restore the tents of Jacob
and have compassion for his dwellings.
The city will be rebuilt on its hill
and the citadel restored on its traditional site.
19 From them will come forth songs of thanksgiving
and the sounds of rejoicing.
I will increase their number;
they will not diminish.
I will make them honored;
no longer will they be disdained.
20 Their sons will be as they formerly were,
and their community will be firmly established;
any who try to oppress them, I will punish.
21 Their leader will be one of their own,
and their ruler will emerge from their midst.
I myself will bring him near
and allow him to approach me.
For who otherwise would dare to risk his life
by approaching me? says the Lord.
22 You will be my people,
and I will be your God.
23 Observe the storm of the Lord
that will burst forth in wrath,
with a roaring wind that bursts upon
the heads of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not subside
until he has fully completed the purposes
he has set out to accomplish.
In days to come,
you will fully understand this.
Chapter 31
Restoration of Israel
1 At that time, says the Lord:
I will be the God of all the families of Israel,
and they will be my people.
2 Thus says the Lord:
The people who survived the sword
found favor in the wilderness.
When the people of Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to them from afar, saying,
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore, I have continued to be merciful to you.
4 I will build you up again,
and you will be rebuilt,
O virgin Israel.
You will once again carry your tambourines
and go forth to dance with the merry throng.
5 You will once again plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria,
and those who plant them will enjoy their fruit.
6 Yes, a day will come when the watchmen
will cry out on the hills of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord, our God.’ ”
The Glorious Return
7 For thus says the Lord:
Raise shouts of joy for Jacob;
sing your praises for the chief of the nations.
Proclaim your praises as you say,
“The Lord has delivered his people,
the remnant of Israel.”
8 Behold, I will bring them back
from the land of the north,
and I will gather them together
from the ends of the earth.
Among them will be the blind and the lame,
expectant mothers and women in labor;
they will return as a vast throng.
9 They will return, weeping uncontrollably,
but I will console them as I lead them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water
along a level path where they will not stumble.
For I am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn son.
10 Pay heed, you nations, to the word of the Lord;
proclaim it even on the distant coastlands and say:
He who scattered Israel will now gather them together
and watch over his flock like a shepherd.
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
and redeemed him from the hands of a foe
far too strong for him.
12 The people will come forth
and shout for joy on the heights of Zion
as they behold the bounty of the Lord:
the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
the young of the flocks and herds.
They themselves will be like a well-watered garden,
and never again will sorrow afflict them.
13 Then the young girls will dance in their happiness,
and the old and the young men will rejoice.
I will turn their mourning into gladness;
I will comfort them
and replace their sorrow with joy.
14 I will strengthen my priests with choice food,
and my people will be overwhelmed with my lavish gifts,
says the Lord.
No More Mourning
15 Thus says the Lord:
A voice is heard in Ramah
marked by lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is mourning for her children,
and she refuses to be consoled
because they are no more.[p]
16 Thus says the Lord to her:
Cease your cries of lamentation
and wipe the tears from your eyes.
For your labors will be rewarded, says the Lord,
and your children will return from the land of mercy.
17 Thus there is hope for your future, says the Lord;
your children will return to their homeland.
18 I have indeed heard Ephraim pleading,
“You chastised me, and I accepted your discipline,
I was like an untamed calf.
Bring me back! Allow me to return,
for you are the Lord, my God.
19 After I turned away, I repented;
once I began to understand, I beat my breast.
I was ashamed and humiliated,
and I reproach myself for the sins of my youth.”
20 Thus says the Lord:
Is not Ephraim still my dear son,
the child in whom I delight?
No matter how often I speak against him,
I still remember him lovingly.
Therefore, my heart yearns for him,
and I have great compassion for him.
Blessing and Restoration
21 Set up road markers for yourself;
make yourself guideposts.
Concentrate your thoughts on the road,
the route along which you traveled.
Return, O virgin Israel;
come back to these towns of yours.
22 How long will you wander aimlessly,
O rebellious daughter?
For the Lord has created something new on the earth:
a woman must strengthen a man.[q]
23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: In the land of Judah and in its towns, they will once again use these words when I restore their fortunes,
“May the Lord bless you,
O holy mountain,
abode of righteousness.”
24 And in the land of Judah and all its towns, the farmers and those who care for the flocks will dwell together. 25 For I will provide the weary with all they need, and I will restore the strength of all those who have grown faint with hunger.
26 At this moment I awakened and looked around, and I realized that my sleep had been pleasant.[r]
27 The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of men and the seed of animals. 28 And as I once watched over them to uproot and pull down, to demolish, destroy, and inflict disaster, so now I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. 29 In those days they will no longer say,
“The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
30 For each one will die for his own sins. The teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes will be set on edge.
31 The New Covenant. The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.[s] 32 However, it will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt, a covenant that they broke even though I was their master.
33 However, this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will establish my law in their minds and inscribe it in their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will there be any need for them to teach one another, or to say to one another, “Know the Lord,” because they will all know me, says the Lord, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their iniquity and no longer remember their sin.
Assurance of God’s Promise
35 Thus says the Lord:
who provides us with the sun to light our day
and the moon and the stars to shine at night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar,
and whose name is the Lord of hosts:
36 If this established order were ever to cease
in my presence, says the Lord,
then the race of Israel would cease forever
to be a nation before me.
37 Thus says the Lord:
Only if the heavens above can be measured
and the foundations of the earth below can be fathomed
will I reject the entire race of Israel
because of all they have done, says the Lord.
38 Jerusalem Rebuilt. The days are coming, says the Lord, when this city will be rebuilt for the Lord, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 [t]The measuring line will then be stretched from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. 40 The entire valley, with its corpses and ashes, and all the fields sloping toward the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be sacred to the Lord. Never again will that city be uprooted or destroyed.
Chapter 32
Promise of Restoration. 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah had been imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard that was attached to the royal palace.
3 King Zedekiah had ordered Jeremiah to be confined there, saying, “Why do you continue to prophesy in this manner? According to you, this is what the Lord says, ‘I intend to hand over this city to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. 4 Nor will King Zedekiah of Judah escape the clutches of the Chaldeans; rather, he will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him face to face and behold him with his own eyes. 5 Then Zedekiah will be taken to Babylon, where he will remain until I am ready to deal with him. If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will experience no success.’ ”
6 Jeremiah replied: This word of the Lord was delivered to me: 7 Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you and say, “Purchase for yourself my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. As my closest relative, you have the first right of redemption.” 8 Then, just as the Lord had foretold, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, “Buy my field at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of redemption and possession is yours as next of kin. Therefore, purchase it for yourself.” I then knew that this was the word of the Lord.
9 Therefore, I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out the money to him—seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I signed the deed, sealed it, had it witnessed, and weighed the money on the scales. 11 Then I took the deed of purchase,[u] both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the unsealed one, 12 and handed them over to Baruch, the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase and of all the Judeans who then happened to be sitting in the courtyard of the guard.
13 In their presence I gave the following instructions to Baruch: 14 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take the documents of the deed of purchase, both the sealed and the unsealed copies, and place them in an earthenware jar so that they may be preserved for a long period of time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.
16 After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch, the son of Neriah, I offered this prayer to the Lord, 17 “Ah, Lord God, you made the heavens and the earth by your great power and your outstretched arm. Nothing is impossible for you. 18 You show your steadfast love to thousands, but you permit children to be punished for the guilt of their parents, O great and mighty God whose name is the Lord of hosts. 19 Great in counsel and mighty in deed, your eyes observe closely all the ways of men, rewarding each one according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve.
20 “You performed marvelous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and you have continued to do so in Israel and among all mankind, gaining renown that continues to this very day. 21 With a mighty hand and outstretched arm you led your people out of Egypt amid signs and wonders and great terror.
22 “You gave them this land which you had promised with an oath to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 They entered and took possession of it, but they did not obey you or live in accordance with your law. And since they refused to do what you had commanded, you permitted all these disasters to befall them.
24 “Behold, the siege-works are already in position to force your people into submission, and the city, a victim of sword, famine, and pestilence, will be handed over to the Chaldeans who are attacking it. What you threatened has come to pass, as you yourself can see. 25 And yet, Lord God, you yourself told me, ‘Purchase the field with money and summon witnesses.’ However, the city has already succumbed to the power of the Chaldeans.”
26 Then this word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything impossible for me to accomplish? 28 Therefore, thus says the Lord: I intend to hand over this city to the Chaldeans and to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he will take it. 29 While attacking this city, the Chaldeans will enter it, set it on fire, and burn it to the ground, along with the houses on whose roofs the people provoked me to anger by burning incense to Baal and by pouring out libations to other gods.
30 From their youth the people of Israel and the people of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight. Indeed the people of Israel have done nothing but provoke me with the works of their hands, says the Lord. 31 From the day this city was built until today, it has so aroused my anger and my wrath that I intend to remove it from my sight, 32 because of all the evil that the people of Israel and the people of Judah have perpetrated to provoke me. 33 They have turned their backs to me, not their faces, and although I continued to teach them, they would not listen or accept correction.
34 They defiled the house that bears my name by setting up within it their loathsome idols. 35 They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to immolate their sons and daughters to Molech. I gave them no command to do so, nor did the thought ever enter my mind that they would do such an abominable deed and thereby cause Judah to sin.
36 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, in regard to this city about which you say, “It has been handed over into the power of the king of Babylon by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence:” 37 Behold, I am determined to gather them together from all the lands to which I banished them in my furious anger and intense wrath. I will bring them back to this place and allow them to live there in peace. 38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will grant them unity of heart and unity of conduct so that they will fear me always, for their own good as well as for the good of their children after them.
40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them never to cease ensuring their welfare, and I will put the fear of me into their hearts so that they will never turn away from me. 41 I will delight in doing good to them, and I will plant them firmly in this land with all my heart and soul.
42 For thus says the Lord: Just as I afflicted this people with such great calamity, so I will grant them all the good things I have promised them. 43 Once again fields will be purchased in this land about which you are saying, “It is a desolate waste, without people or animals, for it has been handed over to the Chaldeans.” 44 Fields will be purchased with money; deeds will be signed, sealed, and witnessed in the land of Benjamin, in the districts around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, of the hill country, of the foothills, and of the Negeb. For I will restore their fortunes, says the Lord.
Chapter 33
Jerusalem Restored. 1 While Jeremiah was still imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the Lord came to him a second time: 2 Thus says the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it—the Lord is his name: 3 Call to me and I will answer you and reveal to you great and mysterious secrets about which you are unaware. 4 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah which are in the process of being destroyed by siege-works and the sword 5 in the battle against the Chaldeans: The houses will be filled with the corpses of those whom I will strike down in my anger and rage, those whose wickedness has caused me to hide my face from this city.
6 Nevertheless, I intend to treat and assuage the wounds of this city. I will heal the people and grant them an abundance of peace and prosperity. 7 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and rebuild them as they were formerly. 8 I will cleanse them of all the guilt they incurred by their sins against me, and I will forgive them for their offenses by which they sinned and rebelled against me. 9 Then Jerusalem will become for me a name of joy and praise and pride for all the nations of the earth to behold. When they learn of all the good that I will do for her, they will be overcome with fear and trembling because of all the peace and prosperity I have provided.
10 Thus says the Lord: In this place about which you say, “It is a wasteland, without men or animals,” and in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are now deserted, inhabited by neither men nor animals, there will once again be heard 11 the cries of joy and the cries of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, and the joyful sounds of those who bring thank offerings to the Lord, saying,
“Give thanks to the Lord of hosts,
for the Lord is good;
his love endures forever.”
For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were once before, says the Lord.
12 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place that is now a wasteland, without men or animals, and in all its towns, there will again be pastures in which shepherds can rest their flocks. 13 In the towns of the hill country, of the foothills, and of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, in the districts around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the Lord.
14 [v]The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise of blessings I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:
15 In those days and at that time
I will cause a righteous branch
to spring up from the line of David
he will do what is just and upright in the land,
16 In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which the city will be called:
“The Lord Our Righteousness.”
17 For thus says the Lord: Never will David lack a male descendant to succeed to the throne of the house of Israel, 18 nor will the Levitical priests ever fail to have available one of their number to stand before me to present burnt offerings, to burn cereal offerings, and to offer sacrifices each day.
19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 Thus says the Lord: If you could break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night so that day and night would no longer occur at their appointed time, 21 then my covenant with my servant David could also be broken so that he would not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levites who minister as priests to me could also be broken. 22 Just as the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be counted, so I will increase the descendants of my servant David and of the Levites who minister to me.
23 This word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 24 Have you not noticed what these people say, “The two families that were chosen by the Lord have been rejected by him”? As a result, they look upon my people with such contempt that they no longer regard them as a nation.
25 Thus says the Lord: If I had not established my covenant with day and night and fixed the laws governing heaven and earth, 26 then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and of my servant David and not choose any of David’s descendants to serve as rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have mercy upon them.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 21:1 While the star of Nebuchadnezzar is rising on the horizon, the death of Josiah in 609 B.C. sounds the death knell for the kingdom of Judah and the monarchy. The corruption, inexperience, or weakness of Josiah’s successors only exacerbate the political and religious crisis. Jeremiah passes a blunt judgment on the successive kings as unfaithful pastors who have allowed their flock to perish (Ezek 34). The only thing left to do is to wait with trust for the day when the Lord takes pity on his flock and installs on the throne the true Son of David, who will see to right and justice in the land.
- Jeremiah 21:13 Jerusalem is built on a seemingly impregnable hill. Forests is a picturesque name for a great gallery of cedar columns in the royal palace; the gallery was known as the “Forest of Lebanon” (see 1 Ki 7:2).
- Jeremiah 22:20 The mountainous regions named dominate the Palestinian landscape and are places from which the proclamation may spread everywhere.
- Jeremiah 23:9 Jeremiah is heartsick at these professional prophets who flatter the people instead of shaking them up, and who take their dreams as the word of God or accommodate their message to the tastes of the day.
- Jeremiah 24:1 After the first deportation (598 B.C.), Jeremiah intervenes against those who want to get revenge: all hopes for the future now rest not on such people but on the exiles.
- Jeremiah 25:1 The end of the seventh century B.C. saw the clash of great empires. Assyria and Egypt made way for Babylon. The year 605 B.C. was one of the most important in the history of the ancient East: Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egypt at Carchemish.
- Jeremiah 25:1 An exile is announced that will last for seventy years. The number is not intended as strictly arithmetical but represents a period longer than the average duration of human life.
- Jeremiah 25:13 This passage probably served as a conclusion to the oracles against the nations, which have been removed from their proper place and put at the end of the Book (chs. 46–51).
- Jeremiah 25:26 Sheshach: a cabalistic transcription of the name “Babylon.”
- Jeremiah 26:1 This second section of the Book is made up of discourses and oracles from different periods that are inserted into biographical narratives from the pen of Baruch, Jeremiah’s secretary. Out of present trials, a new destiny for the nation will slowly emerge.
- Jeremiah 26:1 This account gives a concrete example of Jeremiah’s preaching, as he attacks the false security that relies on the temple and the holy city as if these were God’s inviolable dwelling place despite all the sins of Israel. The prophet’s sacrilegious words are scandalous! People want to lynch him.
- Jeremiah 26:10 The New Gate is mentioned only here and in Jer 36:10.
- Jeremiah 27:1 After the first disaster of 598 B.C., national self-respect was humbled. In this troubled atmosphere, shortsighted politicians cooked up their intrigues and found willing ears. Soon a spirit of revenge swept through Judah and its neighbors; plans and plots were made with Egypt. Jeremiah saw things more clearly, and he advised a loyal submission to the Chaldeans.
Jeremiah rested his hopes on the community in exile. The center of gravity of the future Israel was no longer Jerusalem but Babylon, where another prophet, Ezekiel, was already at work. Out of trials a new people will arise. - Jeremiah 27:19 The sea: the great vessel of water in the temple (see 1 Ki 7:23-25).
- Jeremiah 30:1 Though Jeremiah prophesies misfortune, he also sings of hope. In his view, as in that of the prophets who preceded him, the Lord committed himself to the covenant once and for all and without second thoughts; if he punishes his faithless people, it is in order to cleanse them of their sins and persuade them to yield unconditionally to his love. The prophet is so convinced of this that he already celebrates the return of the scattered brothers and sisters of the former northern kingdom.
- Jeremiah 31:15 In Ramah, which lay between Benjamin and Ephraim, that is, in the land of the descendants of Rachel, Jacob’s wife (Gen 35:24; 41:51), a caravan of deportees to Babylon will be formed (Jer 40:1), a moving image of the common mother who mourns for the children snatched from her. Matthew the evangelist would later use it in reference to the children slain at Bethlehem (Mt 2:17-18).
- Jeremiah 31:22 The verse is obscure. The same Hebrew verb is used in Deut 32:10 and Ps 32:10 of God’s solicitous care for humanity. The usual interpretation of the present verse is that Israel, formerly so faithless, will show the greatest love and attachment to her husband.
- Jeremiah 31:26 “During this vision, I seemed to be dreaming.”
- Jeremiah 31:31 Like a sudden gush of water comes this beautiful insight of Jeremiah, one of the high points of Old Testament thought; it is a verse that should be committed to memory and constantly meditated on. The former law with its exterior demands will become God’s gift and an interior impulse, because God will awaken in souls a love for him and the strength to be faithful. Jesus will bring the gift of it in the Gospel when he announces “the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you” (Lk 22:20; see Heb 8:7-13).
- Jeremiah 31:39 Gareb and Goah are places unknown to us. The boundaries of the new city will include even places formerly unholy: the valley of dead bodies and ashes, that is, the Valley of Gehenna and of the Kidron, which were formerly places of idolatrous practices (see Jer 2:23; 7:31). For the Tower of Hananel and the Horse Gate, see Neh 3:1, 28.
- Jeremiah 32:11 The deed of purchase was written out twice on a single page; one copy was then rolled up and sealed, the other was left hanging open so that everyone could consult it.
- Jeremiah 33:14 At this point, we change periods: we are now in the time of the return from exile (538 B.C.).
