- In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word from the Lord, saying, Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the Lord’s house and speak unto all the cities of Judah which come to worship in the Lord’s house all the words that I command you to speak unto them; diminish not a word. If it so be they will listen, and turn every man from his evil way, and repent, I will turn away the evil which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings. And you shall say unto them, Thus says the Lord: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law which I have set before you, to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I sent unto you, commanding them to rise up early and sending them, then will I make this house like Shiloh and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth; for you have not listened unto my servants the prophets.
- So the priests, and the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests, and the prophets, and all the people took him, saying, You shall surely die. 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. When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s house unto the house of the Lord and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lord’s house. Then spoke the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears. Then spoke Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. Therefore now, amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God and repent, and the Lord will turn away the evil that he has pronounced against you. As for me, behold, I am in your hand; do with me as seems good and meet unto you. But know for certain that if you put me to death, you shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof, for truly the Lord has sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.
- Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets, This man is not worthy to die, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God. Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying, Micah the Morasthite 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 and Jerusalem shall become heaps and the mountain of the house of the Lord as the high places of a forest. Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? Did he not fear the Lord, and implored the Lord and repented, and the Lord turned away the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus, by putting Jeremiah to death, we might procure great evil against our souls.
- But there was a man among the priests rose up and said that Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath-Jearim prophesied in the name of the Lord, who also prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah. 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 Uriah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt; and Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him into Egypt; and they fetched forth Uriah out of Egypt and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king, who slew him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people. Nevertheless, the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
- In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus says the Lord to me: Make yourself bonds and yokes and put them upon your neck, and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem, unto Zedekiah king of Judah, and command them to say unto their masters, Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Thus shall you say unto your masters: I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of their end come; and after that, many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them. And it shall come to pass that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, says the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. Therefore, listen not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, who speak unto you saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon — for they prophesy a lie unto you to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out and you should perish. But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, says the Lord, and they shall till it and dwell therein.
- I spoke also 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. 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? Therefore, listen not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon — for they prophesy a lie unto you. For I have not sent them, says the Lord, yet they prophesy a lie in my name, that I might drive you out and that you might perish, you and the prophets that prophesy unto you.
- Also, I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus says the Lord: Listen not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you saying, Behold, the vessels of the Lord’s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon — for they prophesy a lie unto you. Listen not unto them, serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city be laid waste? 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 and in the house of the king of Judah and at Jerusalem go not to Babylon. For thus says the Lord of Hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city — which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not 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 — yea, 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: They shall be carried to Babylon and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, says the Lord; then will I bring them up and restore them to this place.
- And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year and in the fifth month that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke unto me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, Thus speaks the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried them to Babylon. And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah that went into Babylon, says the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah, in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the Lord, even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen. The Lord do so, the Lord perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the Lord’s house and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place. Nevertheless, hear now this word that I speak in your ears and in the ears of all the people: The prophets that have been before me and before you of old prophesied both against many countries and against great kingdoms — of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord has truly sent him. Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it. And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus says the Lord: Even so will I 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.
- Then the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the prophet, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus says the Lord: You have broken the yokes of wood, but you shall make for them yokes of iron. For thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him; and I have given him the beasts of the field also. Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah, The Lord has not sent you, but you make this people to trust in a lie. Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will cast you from off the face of the earth; this year you shall die because you have taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
Chapter 10