The Message

Smashing the Clay Pot

1-2 Godsaid to me, “Go, buy a clay pot. Then get a few leaders from the people and a few of the leading priests and go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom, just outside the Potsherd Gate, and preach there what I tell you.

3-5 “Say, ‘Listen toGod’s Word, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem! This is the Message fromGod-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel. I’m about to bring doom crashing down on this place. Oh, and will ears ever ring! Doom—because they’ve walked off and left me, and made this place strange by worshiping strange gods, gods never heard of by them, their parents, or the old kings of Judah. Doom—because they have massacred innocent people. Doom—because they’ve built altars to that no-god Baal, and burned their own children alive in the fire as offerings to Baal, an atrocity I never ordered, never so much as hinted at!

6-9 “‘And so it’s payday, and soon’—God’s Decree!—‘this place will no longer be known as Topheth or Valley of Ben-hinnom, but Massacre Meadows. I’m canceling all the plans Judah and Jerusalem had for this place, and I’ll have them killed by their enemies. I’ll stack their dead bodies to be eaten by carrion crows and wild dogs. I’ll turn this city into such a museum of atrocities that anyone coming near will be shocked speechless by the savage brutality. The people will turn into cannibals. Dehumanized by the pressure of the enemy siege, they’ll eat their own children! Yes, they’ll eat one another, family and friends alike.’

10-13 “Say all this, and then smash the pot in front of the men who have come with you. Then say, ‘This is whatGod-of-the-Angel-Armies says: I’ll smash this people and this city like a man who smashes a clay pot into so many pieces it can never be put together again. They’ll bury bodies here in Topheth until there’s no more room. And the whole city will become a Topheth. The city will be turned by people and kings alike into a center for worshiping the star gods and goddesses, turned into an open grave, the whole city an open grave, stinking like a sewer, like Topheth.’”

14-15 Then Jeremiah left Topheth, whereGodhad sent him to preach the sermon, and took his stand in the court ofGod’s Temple and said to the people, “This is the Message fromGod-of-the-Angel-Armies to you: ‘Warning! Danger! I’m bringing down on this city and all the surrounding towns the doom that I have pronounced. They’re set in their ways and won’t budge. They refuse to do a thing I say.’”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JER/19-f8561cb6b1d181f30fd4c596ad907ca4.mp3?version_id=97—

Life’s Been Nothing but Trouble and Tears

1-5 The priest Pashur son of Immer was the senior priest inGod’s Temple. He heard Jeremiah preach this sermon. He whipped Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks at the Upper Benjamin Gate ofGod’s Temple. The next day Pashur came and let him go. Jeremiah told him, “Godhas a new name for you: not Pashur but Danger-Everywhere, becauseGodsays, ‘You’re a danger to yourself and everyone around you. All your friends are going to get killed in battle while you stand there and watch. What’s more, I’m turning all of Judah over to the king of Babylon to do whatever he likes with them—haul them off into exile, kill them at whim. Everything worth anything in this city, property and possessions along with everything in the royal treasury—I’m handing it all over to the enemy. They’ll rummage through it and take what they want back to Babylon.

6 “‘And you, Pashur, you and everyone in your family will be taken prisoner into exile—that’s right, exile in Babylon. You’ll die and be buried there, you and all your cronies to whom you preached your lies.’”

7-10 You pushed me into this,God, and I let you do it.

You were too much for me.

And now I’m a public joke.

They all poke fun at me.

Every time I open my mouth

I’m shouting, “Murder!” or “Rape!”

And all I get for myGod-warnings

are insults and contempt.

But if I say, “Forget it!

No moreGod-Messages from me!”

The words are fire in my belly,

a burning in my bones.

I’m worn out trying to hold it in.

I can’t do it any longer!

Then I hear whispering behind my back:

“There goes old ‘Danger-Everywhere.’ Shut him up! Report him!”

Old friends watch, hoping I’ll fall flat on my face:

“One misstep and we’ll have him. We’ll get rid of him for good!”

11 ButGod, a most fierce warrior, is at my side.

Those who are after me will be sent sprawling—

Slapstick buffoons falling all over themselves,

a spectacle of humiliation no one will ever forget.

12 Oh,God-of-the-Angel-Armies, no one fools you.

You see through everyone, everything.

I want to see you pay them back for what they’ve done.

I rest my case with you.

13 Sing toGod! All praise toGod!

He saves the weak from the grip of the wicked.

14-18 Curse the day

I was born!

The day my mother bore me—

a curse on it, I say!

And curse the man who delivered

the news to my father:

“You’ve got a new baby—a boy baby!”

(How happy it made him.)

Let that birth notice be blacked out,

deleted from the records,

And the man who brought it haunted to his death

with the bad news he brought.

He should have killed me before I was born,

with that womb as my tomb,

My mother pregnant for the rest of her life

with a baby dead in her womb.

Why, oh why, did I ever leave that womb?

Life’s been nothing but trouble and tears,

and what’s coming is more of the same.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JER/20-09bb07eb6853aebf15bc1b8eacb9230c.mp3?version_id=97—

Start Each Day with a Sense of Justice

1-2 God’s Message to Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent Pashur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to him with this request: “Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has waged war against us. Pray toGodfor us. Ask him for help. MaybeGodwill intervene with one of his famous miracles and make him leave.”

3-7 But Jeremiah said, “Tell Zedekiah: ‘This is theGodof Israel’s Message to you: You can say good-bye to your army, watch morale and weapons flushed down the drain. I’m going to personally lead the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, against whom you’re fighting so hard, right into the city itself. I’m joiningtheirside and fighting againstyou, fighting all-out, holding nothing back. And in fierce anger. I’m prepared to wipe out the population of this city, people and animals alike, in a raging epidemic. And then I will personally deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his princes, and any survivors left in the city who haven’t died from disease, been killed, or starved. I’ll deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—yes, hand them over to their enemies, who have come to kill them. He’ll kill them ruthlessly, showing no mercy.’

8-10 “And then tell the people at large, ‘God’s Message to you is this: Listen carefully. I’m giving you a choice: life or death. Whoever stays in this city will die—either in battle or by starvation or disease. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who have surrounded the city will live. You’ll lose everything—but not your life. I’m determined to see this city destroyed. I’m that angry with this place!God’s Decree. I’m going to give it to the king of Babylon, and he’s going to burn it to the ground.’

11-14 “To the royal house of Judah, listen toGod’s Message!

House of David, listen—God’s Message to you:

‘Start each day by dealing with justice.

Rescue victims from their exploiters.

Prevent fire—the fire of my anger—

for once it starts, it can’t be put out.

Your evil regime

is fuel for my anger.

Don’t you realize that I’m against you,

yes,againstyou.

You think you’ve got it made,

all snug and secure.

You say, “Who can possibly get to us?

Who can crash our party?”

Well, I can—and will!

I’ll punish your evil regime.

I’ll start a fire that will rage unchecked,

burn everything in sight to cinders.’”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JER/21-0d8208331a751c7e318334319bfe96c8.mp3?version_id=97—

Walking Out on the Covenant of God

1-3 God’s orders: “Go to the royal palace and deliver this Message. Say, ‘Listen to whatGodsays, O King of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne—you and your officials and all the people who go in and out of these palace gates. This isGod’s Message: Attend to matters of justice. Set things right between people. Rescue victims from their exploiters. Don’t take advantage of the homeless, the orphans, the widows. Stop the murdering!

4-5 “‘If you obey these commands, then kings who follow in the line of David will continue to go in and out of these palace gates mounted on horses and riding in chariots—they and their officials and the citizens of Judah. But if you don’t obey these commands, then I swear—God’s Decree!—this palace will end up a heap of rubble.’”

6-7 This isGod’s verdict on Judah’s royal palace:

“I number you among my favorite places—

like the lovely hills of Gilead,

like the soaring peaks of Lebanon.

Yet I swear I’ll turn you into a wasteland,

as empty as a ghost town.

I’ll hire a demolition crew,

well-equipped with sledgehammers and wrecking bars,

Pound the country to a pulp

and burn it all up.

8-9 “Travelers from all over will come through here and say to one another, ‘Why wouldGoddo such a thing to this wonderful city?’ They’ll be told, ‘Because they walked out on the covenant of theirGod, took up with other gods and worshiped them.’”

Building a Fine House but Destroying Lives

10 Don’t weep over dead King Josiah.

Don’t waste your tears.

Weep for his exiled son:

He’s gone for good.

He’ll never see home again.

11-12 For this isGod’s Word on Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah: “He’s gone from here, gone for good. He’ll die in the place they’ve taken him to. He’ll never see home again.”

13-17 “Doom to him who builds palaces but bullies people,

who makes a fine house but destroys lives,

Who cheats his workers

and won’t pay them for their work,

Who says, ‘I’ll build me an elaborate mansion

with spacious rooms and fancy windows.

I’ll bring in rare and expensive woods

and the latest in interior decor.’

So, that makes you a king—

living in a fancy palace?

Your father got along just fine, didn’t he?

He did what was right and treated people fairly,

And things went well with him.

He stuck up for the down-and-out,

And things went well for Judah.

Isn’t this what it means to know me?”

God’s Decree!

“But you’re blind and brainless.

All you think about is yourself,

Taking advantage of the weak,

bulldozing your way, bullying victims.”

18-19 This is God’s epitaph on Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:

“Doom to this man!

Nobody will shed tears over him,

‘Poor, poor brother!’

Nobody will shed tears over him,

‘Poor, poor master!’

They’ll give him a donkey’s funeral,

drag him out of the city and dump him.

You’ve Made a Total Mess of Your Life

20-23 “People of Jerusalem, climb a Lebanon peak and weep,

climb a Bashan mountain and wail,

Climb the Abarim ridge and cry—

you’ve made a total mess of your life.

I spoke to you when everything was going your way.

You said, ‘I’m not interested.’

You’ve been that way as long as I’ve known you,

never listened to a thing I said.

All your leaders will be blown away,

all your friends end up in exile,

And you’ll find yourself in the gutter,

disgraced by your evil life.

You big-city people thought you were so important,

thought you were ‘king of the mountain’!

You’re soon going to be doubled up in pain,

pain worse than the pangs of childbirth.

24-26 “As sure as I am the living God”—God’s Decree—“even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, I’d pull you off and give you to those who are out to kill you, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, and then throw you, both you and your mother, into a foreign country, far from your place of birth. There you’ll both die.

27 “You’ll be homesick, desperately homesick, but you’ll never get home again.”

28-30 Is Jehoiachin a leaky bucket,

a rusted-out pail good for nothing?

Why else would he be thrown away, he and his children,

thrown away to a foreign place?

O land, land, land,

listen toGod’s Message!

This isGod’s verdict:

“Write this man off as if he were childless,

a man who will never amount to anything.

Nothing will ever come of his life.

He’s the end of the line, the last of the kings.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JER/22-c6260ee3a4c785d06f7dc135209b42ff.mp3?version_id=97—

An Authentic David-Branch

1-4 “Doom to the shepherd-leaders who butcher and scatter my sheep!”God’s Decree. “So here is what I,God, Israel’s God, say to the shepherd-leaders who misled my people: ‘You’ve scattered my sheep. You’ve driven them off. You haven’t kept your eye on them. Well, let me tell you, I’m keeping my eye onyou, keeping track of your criminal behavior. I’ll take over and gather what’s left of my sheep, gather them in from all the lands where I’ve driven them. I’ll bring them back where they belong, and they’ll recover and flourish. I’ll set shepherd-leaders over them who will take good care of them. They won’t live in fear or panic anymore. All the lost sheep rounded up!’God’s Decree.

5-6 “Time’s coming”—God’s Decree—

“when I’ll establish a truly righteous David-Branch,

A ruler who knows how to rule justly.

He’ll make sure of justice and keep people united.

In his time Judah will be secure again

and Israel will live in safety.

This is the name they’ll give him:

‘God-Who-Puts-Everything-Right.’

7-8 “So watch for this. The time’s coming”—God’s Decree—“when no one will say, ‘As sure asGodlives, the God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt,’ but, ‘As sure asGodlives, the God who brought the descendants of Israel back from the north country and from the other countries where he’d driven them, so that they can live on their own good earth.’”

The “Everything Will Turn Out Fine” Sermon

9 My head is reeling,

my limbs are limp,

I’m staggering like a drunk,

seeing double from too much wine—

And all because ofGod,

because of his holy words.

10-12 Now for whatGodsays regarding the lying prophets:

“Can you believe it? A country teeming with adulterers!

faithless, promiscuous idolater-adulterers!

They’re a curse on the land.

The land’s a wasteland.

Their unfaithfulness

is turning the country into a cesspool,

Prophets and priests devoted to desecration.

They have nothing to do with me as their God.

My very own Temple, mind you—

mud-spattered with their crimes.”God’s Decree.

“But they won’t get by with it.

They’ll find themselves on a slippery slope,

Careening into the darkness,

somersaulting into the pitch-black dark.

I’ll make them pay for their crimes.

It will be the Year of Doom.”God’s Decree.

13-14 “Over in Samaria I saw prophets

acting like silly fools—shocking!

They preached using that no-god Baal for a text,

messing with the minds of my people.

And the Jerusalem prophets are even worse—horrible!—

sex-driven, living a lie,

Subsidizing a culture of wickedness,

and never giving it a second thought.

They’re as bad as those wretches in old Sodom,

the degenerates of old Gomorrah.”

15 So here’s the Message to the prophets fromGod-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“I’ll cook them a supper of maggoty meat

with after-dinner drinks of strychnine.

The Jerusalem prophets are behind all this.

They’re the cause of the godlessness polluting this country.”

16-17 A Message fromGod-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“Don’t listen to the sermons of the prophets.

It’s all hot air. Lies, lies, and more lies.

They make it all up.

Not a word they speak comes from me.

They preach their ‘Everything Will Turn Out Fine’ sermon

to congregations with no taste for God,

Their ‘Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen to You’ sermon

to people who are set in their own ways.

18-20 “Have any of these prophets bothered to meet with me, the trueGod?

bothered to take in whatIhave to say?

listened to and thenlived outmy Word?

Look out!God’s hurricane will be let loose—

my hurricane blast,

Spinning the heads of the wicked like tops!

God’s raging anger won’t let up

Until I’ve made a clean sweep,

completing the job I began.

When the job’s done,

you’ll see that it’s been well done.

Quit the “God Told Me This” Kind of Talk

21-22 “I never sent these prophets,

but they ran anyway.

I never spoke to them,

but they preached away.

If they’d have bothered to sit down and meet with me,

they’d have preached my Message to my people.

They’d have gotten them back on the right track,

gotten them out of their evil ruts.

23-24 “Am I not a God near at hand”—God’s Decree—

“and not a God far off?

Can anyone hide out in a corner

where I can’t see him?”

God’s Decree.

“Am I not present everywhere,

whether seen or unseen?”

God’s Decree.

25-27 “I know what they’re saying, all these prophets who preach lies using me as their text, saying ‘I had this dream! I had this dream!’ How long do I have to put up with this? Do these prophets give two cents about me as they preach their lies and spew out their grandiose delusions? They swap dreams with one another, feed on each other’s delusive dreams, trying to distract my people from me just as their ancestors were distracted by the no-god Baal.

28-29 “You prophets who do nothing but dream—

go ahead and tell your silly dreams.

But you prophets who have a message from me—

tell it truly and faithfully.

What does straw have in common with wheat?

Nothing else is likeGod’s Decree.

Isn’t my Message like fire?”God’s Decree.

“Isn’t it like a sledgehammer busting a rock?

30-31 “I’ve had it with the ‘prophets’ who get all their sermons secondhand from each other. Yes, I’ve had it with them. They make up stuff and then pretend it’s a real sermon.

32 “Oh yes, I’ve had it with the prophets who preach the lies they dream up, spreading them all over the country, ruining the lives of my people with their cheap and reckless lies.

“I never sent these prophets, never authorized a single one of them. They do nothing for this people—nothing!”God’s Decree.

33 “And anyone, including prophets and priests, who asks, ‘What’sGodgot to say about all this, what’s troubling him?’ tell him, ‘You, you’re the trouble, and I’m getting rid of you.’”God’s Decree.

34 “And if anyone, including prophets and priests, goes around saying glibly ‘God’s Message!God’s Message!’ I’ll punish him and his family.

35-36 “Instead of claiming to know whatGodsays, ask questions of one another, such as ‘How do we understandGodin this?’ But don’t go around pretending to know it all, saying ‘God told me this . . . God told me that. . . . ’ I don’t want to hear it anymore. Only the person I authorize speaks for me. Otherwise, my Message gets twisted, the Message of the livingGod-of-the-Angel-Armies.

37-38 “You can ask the prophets, ‘How didGodanswer you? What did he tell you?’ But don’t pretend that you know all the answers yourselves and talk like you know it all. I’m telling you: Quit the ‘God told me this . . . God told me that . . . ’ kind of talk.

39-40 “Are you paying attention? You’d better, because I’m about to take you in hand and throw you to the ground, you and this entire city that I gave to your ancestors. I’ve had it with the lot of you. You’re never going to live this down. You’re going down in history as a disgrace.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JER/23-3e7328b84d5c4f2f78b6904c4a04ff15.mp3?version_id=97—

Two Baskets of Figs

1-2 Godshowed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the Temple ofGod. This was after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem into exile in Babylon, along with the leaders of Judah, the craftsmen, and the skilled laborers. In one basket the figs were of the finest quality, ripe and ready to eat. In the other basket the figs were rotten, so rotten they couldn’t be eaten.

3 Godsaid to me, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”

“Figs,” I said. “Excellent figs of the finest quality, and also rotten figs, so rotten they can’t be eaten.”

4-6 ThenGodtold me, “This is the Message from theGodof Israel: The exiles from here that I’ve sent off to the land of the Babylonians are like the good figs, and I’ll make sure they get good treatment. I’ll keep my eye on them so that their lives are good, and I’ll bring them back to this land. I’ll build them up, not tear them down; I’ll plant them, not uproot them.

7 “And I’ll give them a heart to know me,God. They’ll be my people and I’ll be their God, for they’ll have returned to me with all their hearts.

8-10 “But like the rotten figs, so rotten they can’t be eaten, is Zedekiah king of Judah. Rotten figs—that’s how I’ll treat him and his leaders, along with the survivors here and those down in Egypt. I’ll make them something that the whole world will look on as disgusting—repugnant outcasts, their names used as curse words wherever in the world I drive them. And I’ll make sure they die like flies—from war, starvation, disease, whatever—until the land I once gave to them and their ancestors is completely rid of them.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JER/24-16a37cd31f48dcdb7eaf12a918326e9e.mp3?version_id=97—

Don’t Follow the God-Fads of the Day

1 This is the Message given to Jeremiah for all the people of Judah. It came in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah. It was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

2 Jeremiah the prophet delivered the Message to all the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem:

3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah right up to the present day—twenty-three years it’s been!—God’s Word has come to me, and from early each morning to late every night I’ve passed it on to you. And you haven’t listened to a word of it!

4-6 Not only that butGodalso sent a steady stream of prophets to you who were just as persistent as me, and you never listened. They told you, “Turn back—right now, each one of you!—from your evil way of life and bad behavior, and live in the landGodgave you and your ancestors, the land he intended to give you forever. Don’t follow the god-fads of the day, taking up and worshiping these no-gods. Don’t make me angry with your god-businesses, making and selling gods—a dangerous business!

7 “You refused to listen to any of this, and now I am really angry. These god-making businesses of yours are your doom.”

8-11 The verdict ofGod-of-the-Angel-Armies on all this: “Because you have refused to listen to what I’ve said, I’m stepping in. I’m sending for the armies out of the north headed by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant in this, and I’m setting them on this land and people and even the surrounding countries. I’m devoting the whole works to total destruction—a horror to top all the horrors in history. And I’ll banish every sound of joy—singing, laughter, marriage festivities, genial workmen, candlelit suppers. The whole landscape will be one vast wasteland. These countries will be in subjection to the king of Babylon for seventy years.

12-14 “Once the seventy years is up, I’ll punish the king of Babylon and the whole nation of Babylon for their sin. Thenthey’llbe the wasteland. Everything that I said I’d do to that country, I’ll do—everything that’s written in this book, everything Jeremiah preached against all the godless nations. Many nations and great kings will make slaves of the Babylonians, paying them back for everything they’ve done to others. They won’t get by with anything.”God’s Decree.

God Puts the Human Race on Trial

15-16 This is a Message that theGodof Israel gave me: “Take this cup filled with the wine of my wrath that I’m handing to you. Make all the nations where I send you drink it down. They’ll drink it and get drunk, staggering in delirium because of the killing that I’m going to unleash among them.”

17-26 I took the cup fromGod’s hand and made them drink it, all the nations to which he sent me:

Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, along with their kings and leaders, turning them into a vast wasteland, a horror to look at, a cussword—which, in fact, they now are;

Pharaoh king of Egypt with his attendants and leaders, plus all his people and the melting pot of foreigners collected there;

All the kings of Uz;

All the kings of the Philistines from Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what’s left of Ashdod;

Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;

All the kings of Tyre, Sidon, and the coastlands across the sea;

Dedan, Tema, Buz, and the nomads on the fringe of the desert;

All the kings of Arabia and the various Bedouin sheiks and chieftains wandering about in the desert;

All the kings of Zimri, Elam, and the Medes;

All the kings from the north countries near and far, one by one;

All the kingdoms on planet Earth . . .

And the king of Sheshak (that is, Babylon) will be the last to drink.

27 “Tell them, ‘These are orders fromGod-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: Drink and get drunk and vomit. Fall on your faces and don’t get up again. You’re slated for a massacre.’

28 “If any of them refuse to take the cup from you and drink it, say to them, ‘God-of-the-Angel-Armies has ordered you to drink. So drink!

29 “‘Prepare for the worst! I’m starting off the catastrophe in the city that I claim as my own, so don’t think you are going to get out of it. No, you’re not getting out of anything. It’s the sword and nothing but the sword against everyone everywhere!’” TheGod-of-the-Angel-Armies’ Decree.

30-31 “Preach it all, Jeremiah. Preach the entire Message to them. Say:

“‘Godroars like a lion from high heaven;

thunder rolls out from his holy dwelling—

Ear-splitting bellows against his people,

shouting hurrahs like workers in harvest.

The noise reverberates all over the earth;

everyone everywhere hears it.

Godmakes his case against the godless nations.

He’s about to put the human race on trial.

For the wicked the verdict is clear-cut:

death by the sword.’”God’s Decree.

32 A Message fromGod-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“Prepare for the worst! Doomsday!

Disaster is spreading from nation to nation.

A huge storm is about to rage

all across planet Earth.”

33 Laid end to end, those killed inGod’s judgment that day will stretch from one end of the earth to the other. No tears will be shed and no burials conducted. The bodies will be left where they fall, like so much horse dung fertilizing the fields.

34-38 Wail, shepherds! Cry out for help!

Grovel in the dirt, you masters of flocks!

Time’s up—you’re slated for the slaughterhouse,

like a choice ram with its throat cut.

There’s no way out for the rulers,

no escape for those shepherds.

Hear that? Rulers crying for help,

shepherds of the flock wailing!

Godis about to ravage their fine pastures.

The peaceful sheepfolds will be silent with death,

silenced byGod’s deadly anger.

God will come out into the open

like a lion leaping from its cover,

And the country will be torn to pieces,

ripped and ravaged by his anger.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JER/25-3773bf2669f7f0adb416f38b0f6bab2c.mp3?version_id=97—

Change the Way You’re Living

1 At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this Message came fromGodto Jeremiah:

2-3 “God’s Message: Stand in the court ofGod’s Temple and preach to the people who come from all over Judah to worship inGod’s Temple. Say everything I tell you to say to them. Don’t hold anything back. Just maybe they’ll listen and turn back from their bad lives. Then I’ll reconsider the disaster that I’m planning to bring on them because of their evil behavior.

4-6 “Say to them, ‘This isGod’s Message: If you refuse to listen to me and live by my teaching that I’ve revealed so plainly to you, and if you continue to refuse to listen to my servants the prophets that I tirelessly keep on sending to you—but you’ve never listened! Why would you start now?—then I’ll make this Temple a pile of ruins like Shiloh, and I’ll make this city nothing but a bad joke worldwide.’”

7-9 Everybody there—priests, prophets, and people—heard Jeremiah preaching this Message in the Temple ofGod. When Jeremiah had finished his sermon, saying everything God had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and people all grabbed him, yelling, “Death! You’re going to die for this! How dare you preach—and usingGod’s name!—saying that this Temple will become a heap of rubble like Shiloh and this city be wiped out without a soul left in it!”

All the people mobbed Jeremiah right in the Temple itself.

10 Officials from the royal court of Judah were told of this. They left the palace immediately and came toGod’s Temple to investigate. They held court on the spot, at the New Gate entrance toGod’s Temple.

11 The prophets and priests spoke first, addressing the officials, but also the people: “Death to this man! He deserves nothing less than death! He has preached against this city—you’ve heard the evidence with your own ears.”

12-13 Jeremiah spoke next, publicly addressing the officials before the crowd: “Godsent me to preach against both this Temple and city everything that’s been reported to you. So do something about it! Change the way you’re living, change your behavior. Listen obediently to the Message of yourGod. MaybeGodwill reconsider the disaster he has threatened.

14-15 “As for me, I’m at your mercy—do whatever you think is best. But take warning: If you kill me, you’re killing an innocent man, and you and the city and the people in it will be liable. I didn’t say any of this on my own.Godsent me and told me what to say. You’ve been listening toGodspeak, not Jeremiah.”

16 The court officials, backed by the people, then handed down their ruling to the priests and prophets: “Acquittal. No death sentence for this man. He has spoken to us with the authority of ourGod.”

17-18 Then some of the respected leaders stood up and addressed the crowd: “In the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah, Micah of Moresheth preached to the people of Judah this sermon: This isGod-of-the-Angel-Armies’ Message for you:

“‘Because of people like you,

Zion will be turned back into farmland,

Jerusalem end up as a pile of rubble,

and instead of the Temple on the mountain,

a few scraggly scrub pines.’

19 “Did King Hezekiah or anyone else in Judah kill Micah of Moresheth because of that sermon? Didn’t Hezekiah honor him and pray for mercy fromGod? And then didn’tGodcall off the disaster he had threatened?

“Friends, we’re at the brink of bringing a terrible calamity upon ourselves.”

20-23 (At another time there had been a man, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim, who had preached similarly in the name ofGod. He preached against this same city and country just as Jeremiah did. When King Jehoiakim and his royal court heard his sermon, they determined to kill him. Uriah, afraid for his life, went into hiding in Egypt. King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Achbor with a posse of men after him. They brought him back from Egypt and presented him to the king. And the king had him killed. They dumped his body unceremoniously outside the city.

24 But in Jeremiah’s case, Ahikam son of Shaphan stepped forward and took his side, preventing the mob from lynching him.)

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JER/26-fab130770a46b5e5c8e0a00bebd10305.mp3?version_id=97—

Harness Yourselves Up to the Yoke

1-4 Early in the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, Jeremiah received this Message fromGod: “Make a harness and a yoke and then harness yourself up. Send a message to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. Send it through their ambassadors who have come to Jerusalem to see Zedekiah king of Judah. Give them this charge to take back to their masters: ‘This is a Message fromGod-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel. Tell your masters:

5-8 “‘I’m the one who made the earth, man and woman, and all the animals in the world. I did it on my own without asking anyone’s help and I hand it out to whomever I will. Here and now I give all these lands over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have made even the wild animals subject to him. All nations will be under him, then his son, and then his grandson. Then his country’s time will be up and the tables will be turned:Babylonwill be the underdog servant. But until then, any nation or kingdom that won’t submit to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon must take the yoke of the king of Babylon and harness up. I’ll punish that nation with war and starvation and disease until I’ve got them where I want them.

9-11 “‘So don’t for a minute listen to all your prophets and spiritualists and fortunetellers, who claim to know the future and who tell you not to give in to the king of Babylon. They’re handing you a line of lies, barefaced lies, that will end up putting you in exile far from home. I myself will drive you out of your lands, and that’ll be the end of you. But the nation that accepts the yoke of the king of Babylon and does what he says, I’ll let that nation stay right where it is, minding its own business.’”

12-15 Then I gave this same message to Zedekiah king of Judah: “Harness yourself up to the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people. Live a long life! Why choose to get killed or starve to death or get sick and die, which is whatGodhas threatened to any nation that won’t throw its lot in with Babylon? Don’t listen to the prophets who are telling you not to submit to the king of Babylon. They’re telling you lies,preachinglies.God’s Word on this is, ‘I didn’t send those prophets, but they keep preaching lies, claiming I sent them. If you listen to them, I’ll end up driving you out of here and that will be the end of you, both you and the lying prophets.’”

16-22 And finally I spoke to the priests and the people at large: “This isGod’s Message: Don’t listen to the preaching of the prophets who keep telling you, ‘Trust us: The furnishings, plundered fromGod’s Temple, are going to be returned from Babylon any day now.’ That’s a lie. Don’t listen to them. Submit to the king of Babylon and live a long life. Why do something that will destroy this city and leave it a heap of rubble? If they are real prophets and have a Message fromGod, let them come toGod-of-the-Angel-Armies in prayer so that the furnishings that are still left inGod’s Temple, the king’s palace, and Jerusalem aren’t also lost to Babylon. That’s becauseGod-of-the-Angel-Armies has already spoken about the Temple furnishings that remain—the pillars, the great bronze basin, the stands, and all the other bowls and chalices that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn’t take when he took Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim off to Babylonian exile along with all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. He said that the furnishings left behind in the Temple ofGodand in the royal palace and in Jerusalem will be taken off to Babylon and stay there until, inGod’s words, ‘I take the matter up again and bring them back where they belong.’”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JER/27-49e907caa79ed298d4bd2e3a5f03cfae.mp3?version_id=97—

From a Wooden to an Iron Yoke

1-2 Later that same year (it was in the fifth month of King Zedekiah’s fourth year) Hananiah son of Azzur, a prophet from Gibeon, confronted Jeremiah in the Temple ofGodin front of the priests and all the people who were there. Hananiah said:

2-4 “This Message is straight fromGod-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: ‘I will most certainly break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Before two years are out I’ll have all the furnishings ofGod’s Temple back here, all the things that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon plundered and hauled off to Babylon. I’ll also bring back Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the exiles who were taken off to Babylon.’God’s Decree. ‘Yes, I will break the king of Babylon’s yoke. You’ll no longer be in harness to him.’”

5-9 Prophet Jeremiah stood up to prophet Hananiah in front of the priests and all the people who were inGod’s Temple that day. Prophet Jeremiah said, “Wonderful! Would that it were true—thatGodwould validate your preaching by bringing the Temple furnishings and all the exiles back from Babylon. But listen to me, listen closely. Listen to what I tell both you and all the people here today: The old prophets, the ones before our time, preached judgment against many countries and kingdoms, warning of war and disaster and plague. So any prophet who preaches that everything is just fine and there’s nothing to worry about stands out like a sore thumb. We’ll wait and see. If it happens, it happens—and then we’ll know thatGodsent him.”

10-11 At that, Hananiah grabbed the yoke from Jeremiah’s shoulders and smashed it. And then he addressed the people: “This isGod’s Message: In just this way I will smash the yoke of the king of Babylon and get him off the neck of all the nations—and within two years.”

Jeremiah walked out.

12-14 Later, sometime after Hananiah had smashed the yoke from off his shoulders, Jeremiah received this Message fromGod: “Go back to Hananiah and tell him, ‘This isGod’s Message: You smashed the wooden yoke-bars; now you’ve got iron yoke-bars. This is a Message fromGod-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s own God: I’ve put an iron yoke on all these nations. They’re harnessed to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They’ll do just what he tells them. Why, I’m even putting him in charge of the wild animals.’”

15-16 So prophet Jeremiah told prophet Hananiah, “Hold it, Hananiah!Godnever sent you. You’ve talked the whole country into believing a pack of lies! And soGodsays, ‘You claim to be sent? I’ll send you all right—right off the face of the earth! Before the year is out, you’ll be dead because you fomented sedition againstGod.’”

17 Prophet Hananiah died that very year, in the seventh month.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JER/28-9e0316c14bc3b7a795814e337171c1d8.mp3?version_id=97—