Study Desk

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord :

"Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord ^(a) and there call out this word: Hear the word of the Lord , all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the Lord .

"This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Correct your ways and your deeds,^(b) and I will allow you to live in this place.

Do not trust deceitful words, chanting: This is the temple of the Lord , the temple of the Lord , the temple of the Lord .

Instead, if you really change your ways and your actions, if you act justly toward one another,^[a](c)

if you no longer oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow^(d) and no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods, bringing harm on yourselves,

I will allow you to live in this place, the land I gave to your ancestors^(e) long ago and forever.

But look, you keep trusting in deceitful words that cannot help.

"Do you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known?^(f)

Then do you come and stand before Me in this house^(g) called by My name and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue doing all these detestable acts'?

Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers^(h) in your view? Yes, I too have seen it."⁽ⁱ⁾ This is the Lord 's declaration.

"But return to My place that was at Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at first.^(j) See what I did to it because of the evil of My people Israel.

Now, because you have done all these things"—this is the Lord 's declaration—"and because I have spoken to you time and time again^[b] but you wouldn't listen,^(k) and I have called to you, but you wouldn't answer,^(l)

what I did to Shiloh I will do to the house that is called by My name^(m)—the house in which you trust—the place that I gave you and your ancestors.

I will drive you from My presence, just as I drove out all of your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.⁽ⁿ⁾

"As for you, do not pray for these people.^(o) Do not offer a cry or a prayer on their behalf, and do not beg Me,^(p) for I will not listen to you.^(q)

Don't you see how they behave in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven,^[c](r) and they pour out drink offerings to other gods so that they provoke Me to anger.

But are they really provoking Me?"^(s) This is the Lord 's declaration. "Isn't it they themselves being provoked to disgrace?"

Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: "Look, My anger—My burning wrath—is about to be poured out on this place,^(t) on man and beast, on the tree of the field, and on the produce of the land. My wrath will burn and not be quenched."^(u)

This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices, and eat the meat yourselves,^(v)

for when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak with them^(w) or command them concerning burnt offering and sacrifice.

However, I did give them this command: Obey Me, and then I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must follow every way I command you so that it may go well with you.^(x)

Yet they didn't listen or pay attention^(y) but followed their own advice and according to their own stubborn, evil heart. They went backward and not forward.^(z)

Since the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent all My servants the prophets^(aa) to you time and time again.^[d](ab)

However, they wouldn't listen to Me or pay attention but became obstinate;^[e](ac) they did more evil than their ancestors.^(ad)

"When you speak all these things to them, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer you.

You must therefore declare to them: This is the nation that would not listen to the voice of the Lord their God and would not accept discipline. Truth^[f] has perished—it has disappeared from their mouths.

Cut off the hair of your sacred vow^[g](ae) and throw it away. Raise up a dirge on the barren heights,^(af) for the Lord has rejected and abandoned the generation under His wrath.^(ag)

"For the Judeans have done what is evil in My sight." This is the Lord 's declaration. "They have set up their detestable things^(ah) in the house that is called by My name and defiled it.^(ai)

They have built the high places of Topheth^[h](aj) in the Valley of Hinnom^[i](ak) in order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire,^(al) a thing I did not command; I never entertained the thought.^[j]

"Therefore, take note! Days are coming"^(am)—the Lord 's declaration—"when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.^(an) Topheth will become a cemetery,^[k] because there will be no other burial place.

The corpses of these people will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land, with no one to scare them away.^(ao)

I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and gladness and the voices of the groom and the bride,^(ap) for the land will become a desolate waste.^(aq)

"At that time"—this is the Lord 's declaration—"the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of her officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the residents of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves.

They will be exposed^(a) to the sun, the moon, and the whole heavenly host,^(b) which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be collected and buried but will become like manure on the surface of the soil.^(c)

Death will be chosen over life^(d) by all the survivors of this evil family, those who remain wherever I have banished them." This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

"You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says: Do people fall and not get up again?^(e) If they turn away, do they not return?

Why have these people turned away? Why is Jerusalem always turning away? They take hold of deceit;^(f) they refuse to return.^(g)

I have paid careful attention. They do not speak what is right. No one regrets his evil, asking, ‘What have I done?' Everyone has stayed his course like a horse rushing into battle.^(h)

Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons. The turtledove, swallow, and crane^[a] are aware of their migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the Lord .⁽ⁱ⁾

"How can you claim, ‘We are wise; the law of the Lord is with us'? In fact, the lying pen of scribes^(j) has produced falsehood.

The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and snared. They have rejected the word of the Lord , so what wisdom do they really have?

Therefore, I will give^(k) their wives to other men, their fields to new occupants, for from the least to the greatest, everyone is making profit dishonestly. From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.

They have treated superficially the brokenness of My dear^[b] people, claiming, ‘Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.

Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren't at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse,"^(l) says the Lord .

I will gather them and bring them to an end.^[c](m) This is the Lord 's declaration. There will be no grapes on the vine, no figs on the fig tree, and even the leaf will wither. Whatever I have given them will be lost to them.

Why are we just sitting here? Gather together; let us enter the fortified cities and perish there,^[d] for the Lord our God has destroyed^[e] us. He has given us poisoned water to drink,⁽ⁿ⁾ because we have sinned against the Lord .

We hoped for peace, but there was nothing good; for a time of healing, but there was only terror.^(o)

From Dan the snorting of horses is heard. At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds,^(p) the whole land quakes. They come to devour the land and everything in it, the city and all its residents.

Indeed, I am about to send snakes among you, poisonous vipers^(q) that cannot be charmed.^(r) They will bite you. This is the Lord 's declaration.

My joy has flown away; grief has settled on me. My heart is sick.^(s)

Listen—the cry of my dear^[f] people from a far away land, "Is the Lord no longer in Zion,^(t) her King not within her?" Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images, with their worthless foreign idols?^(u)

Harvest has passed, summer has ended, but we have not been saved.

I am broken by the brokenness of my dear^[g] people.^(v) I mourn; horror has taken hold of me.

Is there no balm in Gilead?^(w) Is there no physician there? So why has the healing of my dear^[h] people not come about?

At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim^(a) son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord :

"This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord 's temple and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all Judah's cities that are coming to worship there. Do not hold back a word.^(b)

Perhaps they will listen and return—each from his evil way of life—so that I might relent^(c) concerning the disaster that I plan to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.

You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to Me by living according to My instruction that I set before you^(d)

and by listening to the words of My servants the prophets^(e) I have been sending you time and time again,^[a] though you did not listen,

I will make this temple like Shiloh.^(f) I will make this city an object of cursing for all the nations of the earth."

The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the temple of the Lord .

He finished the address the Lord had commanded him to deliver to all the people. Then the priests, the prophets, and all the people took hold of him, yelling, "You must surely die!

How dare you prophesy in the name of Yahweh, ‘This temple will become like Shiloh and this city will become an uninhabited ruin'!" Then all the people assembled against Jeremiah at the Lord 's temple.

When the officials of Judah heard these things, they went from the king's palace to the Lord 's temple and sat at the entrance of the New Gate.^[b](g)

Then the priests and prophets said to the officials and all the people, "This man deserves the death sentence because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears."^(h)

Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and the people, "The Lord sent me to prophesy all the words that you have heard against this temple and city.

So now, correct your ways and deeds⁽ⁱ⁾ and obey the voice of the Lord your God so that He might relent concerning the disaster that He warned about.

As for me, here I am in your hands; do to me what you think is good and right.

But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood^(j) on yourselves, on this city, and on its residents, for it is certain the Lord has sent me to speak all these things directly to you."

Then the officials and all the people told the priests and prophets, "This man doesn't deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of Yahweh our God!"

Some of the elders of the land stood up^(k) and said to all the assembled people,

"Micah the Moreshite^(l) prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah^(m) and said to all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become ruins, and the temple mount a forested hill.'⁽ⁿ⁾

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all the people of Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and plead for the Lord 's favor,^[c](o) and did not the Lord relent concerning the disaster He had pronounced against them?^(p) We are about to bring great harm on ourselves!"

Another man was also prophesying in the name of Yahweh—Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim.^(q) He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like all those of Jeremiah.

King Jehoiakim, all his warriors, and all the officials heard his words, and the king tried to put him to death. When Uriah heard, he fled in fear and went to Egypt.

But King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan son of Achbor^(r) and certain other men with him went to Egypt.

They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who executed him with the sword and threw his corpse into the burial place of the common people.^[d]

But Ahikam^(s) son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.