Jeremiah 25-29:7
Skip Heitzig
| Jeremiah 25 (NKJV™) | |
| 1 | The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), |
| 2 | which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: |
| 3 | "From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, this is the twenty-third year in which the word of the LORD has come to me; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened. |
| 4 | "And the LORD has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear. |
| 5 | "They said, 'Repent now everyone of his evil way and his evil doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. |
| 6 | 'Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.' |
| 7 | "Yet you have not listened to Me," says the LORD, "that you might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. |
| 8 | "Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Because you have not heard My words, |
| 9 | 'behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,' says the LORD, 'and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. |
| 10 | 'Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. |
| 11 | 'And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. |
| 12 | 'Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,' says the LORD; 'and I will make it a perpetual desolation. |
| 13 | 'So I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations. |
| 14 | '(For many nations and great kings shall be served by them also; and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands.)'" |
| 15 | For thus says the LORD God of Israel to me: "Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. |
| 16 | "And they will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them." |
| 17 | Then I took the cup from the LORD'S hand, and made all the nations drink, to whom the LORD had sent me: |
| 18 | Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; |
| 19 | Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, and all his people; |
| 20 | all the mixed multitude, all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines (namely, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); |
| 21 | Edom, Moab, and the people of Ammon; |
| 22 | all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands which are across the sea; |
| 23 | Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who are in the farthest corners; |
| 24 | all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed multitude who dwell in the desert; |
| 25 | all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes; |
| 26 | all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth. Also the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. |
| 27 | "Therefore you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Drink, be drunk, and vomit! Fall and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you."' |
| 28 | "And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "You shall certainly drink! |
| 29 | "For behold, I begin to bring calamity on the city which is called by My name, and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished, for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth," says the LORD of hosts.' |
| 30 | "Therefore prophesy against them all these words, and say to them: 'The LORD will roar from on high, And utter His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His fold. He will give a shout, as those who tread the grapes, Against all the inhabitants of the earth. |
| 31 | A noise will come to the ends of the earth--For the LORD has a controversy with the nations; He will plead His case with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the sword,' says the LORD." |
| 32 | Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Behold, disaster shall go forth From nation to nation, And a great whirlwind shall be raised up From the farthest parts of the earth. |
| 33 | "And at that day the slain of the LORD shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground. |
| 34 | "Wail, shepherds, and cry! Roll about in the ashes, You leaders of the flock! For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions are fulfilled; You shall fall like a precious vessel. |
| 35 | And the shepherds will have no way to flee, Nor the leaders of the flock to escape. |
| 36 | A voice of the cry of the shepherds, And a wailing of the leaders to the flock will be heard. For the LORD has plundered their pasture, |
| 37 | And the peaceful dwellings are cut down Because of the fierce anger of the LORD. |
| 38 | He has left His lair like the lion; For their land is desolate Because of the fierceness of the Oppressor, And because of His fierce anger." |
| Jeremiah 26 (NKJV™) | |
| 1 | In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the LORD, saying, |
| 2 | "Thus says the LORD: 'Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Do not diminish a word. |
| 3 | 'Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.' |
| 4 | "And you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD: "If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, |
| 5 | "to heed the words of My servants the prophets whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not heeded), |
| 6 | "then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth."'" |
| 7 | So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD. |
| 8 | Now it happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, "You will surely die! |
| 9 | "Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, 'This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without an inhabitant'?" And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD. |
| 10 | When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of the LORD and sat down in the entry of the New Gate of the LORD'S house. |
| 11 | And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and all the people, saying, "This man deserves to die! For he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears." |
| 12 | Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying: "The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all the words that you have heard. |
| 13 | "Now therefore, amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; then the LORD will relent concerning the doom that He has pronounced against you. |
| 14 | "As for me, here I am, in your hand; do with me as seems good and proper to you. |
| 15 | "But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for truly the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing." |
| 16 | So the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, "This man does not deserve to die. For he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God." |
| 17 | Then certain of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying: |
| 18 | "Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest."' |
| 19 | "Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death? Did he not fear the LORD and seek the LORD'S favor? And the Lord relented concerning the doom which He had pronounced against them. But we are doing great evil against ourselves." |
| 20 | Now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath Jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah. |
| 21 | And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt. |
| 22 | Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor, and other men who went with him to Egypt. |
| 23 | And they brought Urijah from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people. |
| 24 | Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death. |
| Jeremiah 27 (NKJV™) | |
| 1 | In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, |
| 2 | "Thus says the LORD to me: 'Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, and put them on your neck, |
| 3 | 'and send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. |
| 4 | 'And command them to say to their masters, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel--thus you shall say to your masters: |
| 5 | 'I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me. |
| 6 | 'And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. |
| 7 | 'So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son's son, until the time of his land comes; and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. |
| 8 | 'And it shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,' says the LORD, 'with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. |
| 9 | 'Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, "You shall not serve the king of Babylon." |
| 10 | 'For they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out, and you will perish. |
| 11 | 'But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let them remain in their own land,' says the LORD, 'and they shall till it and dwell in it.'"'" |
| 12 | I also spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, "Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live! |
| 13 | "Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? |
| 14 | "Therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon,' for they prophesy a lie to you; |
| 15 | "for I have not sent them," says the LORD, "yet they prophesy a lie in My name, that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you." |
| 16 | Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, "Thus says the LORD: 'Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, "Behold, the vessels of the LORD'S house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon"; for they prophesy a lie to you. |
| 17 | 'Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city be laid waste? |
| 18 | 'But if they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon.' |
| 19 | "For thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, concerning the Sea, concerning the carts, and concerning the remainder of the vessels that remain in this city, |
| 20 | "which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem-- |
| 21 | "yes, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem: |
| 22 | 'They shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I visit them,' says the LORD. 'Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.'" |
| Jeremiah 28 (NKJV™) | |
| 1 | And it happened in the same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, |
| 2 | "Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: 'I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. |
| 3 | 'Within two full years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD'S house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. |
| 4 | 'And I will bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives 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 spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of the LORD, |
| 6 | and the prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen! The LORD do so; the LORD perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the LORD'S house and all who were carried away captive, from Babylon to this place. |
| 7 | "Nevertheless hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: |
| 8 | "The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms--of war and disaster and pestilence. |
| 9 | "As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom the LORD has truly sent." |
| 10 | Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah's neck and broke it. |
| 11 | And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, "Thus says the LORD: 'Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.'" And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. |
| 12 | Now the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, |
| 13 | "Go and tell Hananiah, saying, 'Thus says the LORD: "You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron." |
| 14 | 'For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. I have given him the beasts of the field also."'" |
| 15 | Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, "Hear now, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. |
| 16 | "Therefore thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the LORD.'" |
| 17 | So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month. |
| Jeremiah 29 (NKJV™) | |
| 1 | Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive--to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. |
| 2 | (This happened after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) |
| 3 | The 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 | Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: |
| 5 | Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. |
| 6 | Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters--that you may be increased there, and not diminished. |
| 7 | And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace. |
| 8 | For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. |
| 9 | For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the LORD. |
| 10 | For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. |
| 11 | For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. |
| 12 | Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. |
| 13 | And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. |
| 14 | I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. |
| 15 | Because you have said, "The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon"-- |
| 16 | therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity-- |
| 17 | thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. |
| 18 | And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth--to be a curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, |
| 19 | because they have not heeded My words, says the LORD, which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; neither would you heed, says the LORD. |
| 20 | Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon. |
| 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 a lie to you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes. |
| 22 | And because of them a curse shall be taken up by all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, "The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire"; |
| 23 | because they have done disgraceful things in Israel, have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them. Indeed I know, and am a witness, says the LORD. |
| 24 | You shall also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, |
| 25 | Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, |
| 26 | "The LORD has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there should be officers in the house of the LORD over every man who is demented and considers himself a prophet, that you should put him in prison and in the stocks. |
| 27 | Now therefore, why have you not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth who makes himself a prophet to you? |
| 28 | For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, 'This captivity is long; build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.'" |
| 29 | Now Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. |
| 30 | Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying: |
| 31 | Send to all those in captivity, saying, Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I have not sent him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie-- |
| 32 | therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his family: he shall not have anyone to dwell among this people, nor shall he see the good that I will do for My people, says the LORD, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD. |
New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah called his people to return to God as his nation was dying. Pastor Skip Heitzig relates how the weeping prophet remained faithful even in the face of a hopeless task.
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