16. Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear The LORD's word.

17. 'Behold, the days come that all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store to this day, will be carried to BABYLON. Nothing will be left,' says The LORD.

18. 'They will take away some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will father; and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of BABYLON.'"

19. Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The LORD's word which you have spoken is good." He said moreover, "Isn't it so, if peace and truth will be in my days?"

4. For the LORD says, 'Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes will see it. I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of BABYLON, and he will carry them captive to BABYLON, and will kill them with the sword.

5. Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all its gains, and all its precious things, yes, I will give all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies. They will make them captives, take them, and carry them to BABYLON.

6. You, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house will go into captivity. You will come to BABYLON, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you, and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.'"

7. The LORD, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded.You are stronger than I, and have prevailed.I have become a laughing-stock all day.Everyone mocks me.

1. The word which came to Jeremiah from The LORD, when king Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying,

2. "Please inquire of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadnezzar king of BABYLON makes war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may withdraw from us."

3. Then Jeremiah said to them, "Tell Zedekiah:

4. 'The LORD, the God of Israel says, "Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of BABYLON, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will gather them into the middle of this city.

5. I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation.

6. I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and animal. They will die of a great pestilence.

7. Afterward," says The LORD, "I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, and the people, even those who are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of BABYLON, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. He will strike them with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them, have pity, or have mercy."'

8. "You shall say to this people, 'The LORD says: "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

9. He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out, and passes over to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he will live, and he will escape with his life.

10. For I have set my face on this city for evil, and not for good," says The LORD. "It will be given into the hand of the king of BABYLON, and he will burn it with fire."'

11. "Concerning the house of the king of Judah, hear The LORD's word:

12. House of David, the LORD says,'Execute justice in the morning,and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor,lest my wrath go out like fire,and burn so that no one can quench it,because of the evil of your doings.

13. Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,and of the rock of the plain,' says The LORD.'You that say, "Who would come down against us?"or "Who would enter into our homes?"

14. I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, says The LORD;and I will kindle a fire in her forest,and it will devour all that is around her.'"

1. The LORD said, "Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak this word, there:

2. 'Hear The LORD's word, king of Judah, who sits on David's throne, you, your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates.

3. The LORD says: "Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don't shed innocent blood in this place.

4. For if you do this thing indeed, then kings sitting on David's throne will enter in by the gates of this house, riding in chariots and on horses, he, his servants, and his people.

5. But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself," says The LORD, "that this house will become a desolation."'"

6. For the LORD says concerning the house of the king of Judah:"You are Gilead to me,the head of Lebanon.Yet surely I will make you a wilderness,cities which are not inhabited.

7. I will prepare destroyers against you,everyone with his weapons,and they will cut down your choice cedars,and cast them into the fire.

8. "Many nations will pass by this city, and they will each ask his neighbor, 'Why has the LORD done this to this great city?'

9. Then they will answer, 'Because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD their God, worshiped other gods, and served them.'"

10. Don't weep for the dead.Don't bemoan him;but weep bitterly for him who goes away,for he will return no more,and not see his native country.

11. For the LORD says touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went out of this place: "He won't return there any more.

12. But in the place where they have led him captive, there will he die, and he will see this land no more."

13. "Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,and his rooms by injustice;who uses his neighbor's service without wages,and doesn't give him his hire;

14. who says, 'I will build myself a wide house and spacious rooms,'and cuts out windows for himself;with a cedar ceiling,and painted with red.

15. "Should you reign, because you strive to excel in cedar?Didn't your father eat and drink,and do justice and righteousness?Then it was well with him.

16. He judged the cause of the poor and needy;so it was well, then.Wasn't this to know me?"says The LORD.

17. But your eyes and your heart are only for your covetousness,for shedding innocent blood,for oppression, and for doing violence."

18. Therefore the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:"They won't lament for him,saying, 'Ah my brother!' or, 'Ah sister!'They won't lament for him,saying 'Ah lord!' or, 'Ah his glory!'

19. He will be buried with the burial of a donkey,drawn and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem."

20. "Go up to Lebanon, and cry.Lift up your voice in Bashan,and cry from Abarim;for all your lovers have been destroyed.

21. I spoke to you in your prosperity;but you said, 'I will not listen.'This has been your way from your youth,that you didn't obey my voice.

22. The wind will feed all your shepherds,and your lovers will go into captivity.Surely then you will be ashamedand confounded for all your wickedness.

23. Inhabitant of Lebanon,who makes your nest in the cedars,how greatly to be pitied you will be when pangs come on you,the pain as of a woman in travail!

24. "As I live," says The LORD, "though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on my right hand, yet would I pluck you from there.

25. I would give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of them of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of BABYLON, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

26. I will cast you out with your mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born; and there you will die.

27. But to the land to which their soul longs to return, there they will not return."

28. Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel?Is he a vessel in which no one delights?Why are they cast out, he and his offspring,and cast into a land which they don't know?

29. O earth, earth, earth,hear The LORD's word!

30. The LORD says,"Record this man as childless,a man who will not prosper in his days;for no more will a man of his offspring prosper,sitting on David's throne,and ruling in Judah."

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 (the same 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:

3. From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years, The LORD's word has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; but you have not listened.

4. The LORD has sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them (but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear)

5. saying, "Return now everyone from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD has given to you and to your fathers, from of old and even forever more.

6. Don't go after other gods to serve them or worship them, and don't provoke me to anger with the work of your hands; then I will do you no harm."

7. "Yet you have not listened to me," says The LORD; "that you may provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt."

8. Therefore the LORD of Hosts says: "Because you have not heard my words,

9. behold, I will send and take all the families of the north," says The LORD, "and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar the king of BABYLON, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations around. I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and 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. This whole land will be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations will serve the king of BABYLON seventy years.

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. The LORD says to me: "Make bonds and bars, and put them on your neck.

3. Then send them to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the children of Ammon, to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

4. Give them a command to their masters, saying, 'The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says, "You shall tell your masters:

5. 'I have made the earth, the men, and the animals that are on the surface of the earth by my great power and by my outstretched arm. I give it to whom it seems right to me.

6. Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of BABYLON, my servant. I have also given the animals of the field to him to serve him.

7. All the nations will serve him, his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings will make him their bondservant.

8. "'"'It will happen that I will punish the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of BABYLON, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of BABYLON,' says The LORD, 'with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

9. But as for you, don't listen to your prophets, to your diviners, to your dreams, to your soothsayers, or to 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, so that I would drive you out, and you would perish.

11. But the nation that brings their neck under the yoke of the king of BABYLON and serves him, that nation I will let remain in their own land,' says The LORD; 'and they will till it and dwell in it.'"'"

12. I 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 concerning the nation that will not serve the king of BABYLON?

14. Don't 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, "but they prophesy falsely 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, the LORD says, "Don't 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 again from BABYLON;' for they prophesy a lie to you.

17. Don't listen to them. Serve the king of BABYLON, and live. Why should this city become a desolation?

18. But if they are prophets, and if The LORD's word is with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of Hosts, that the vessels which are left in The LORD's house, in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, don't go to BABYLON.

19. For the LORD of Hosts says concerning the pillars, concerning the sea, concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city,

20. which Nebuchadnezzar king of BABYLON didn't 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, the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says concerning the vessels that are left in The LORD's house, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem:

22. 'They will be carried to BABYLON, and there they will be, until the day that I visit them,' says The LORD; 'then I will bring them up, and restore them to this place.'"

1. That same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in The LORD's house, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,

2. "The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says, 'I have broken the yoke of the king of BABYLON.

3. 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 to BABYLON.

4. I will bring again 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 said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people who stood in The LORD's house,

6. even the prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen! May the LORD do so. May the LORD perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of The LORD's house, and all those who are captives, from BABYLON to this place.

7. Nevertheless listen now to this word that I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people:

8. The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, of evil, and of pestilence.

9. The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet happens, then the prophet will be known, that the LORD has truly sent him."

10. Then Hananiah the prophet took the bar from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and broke it.

11. Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, "The LORD says: 'Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of BABYLON from off the neck of all the nations within two full years.'" Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

12. Then The LORD's word came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

13. "Go, and tell Hananiah, saying, 'The LORD says, "You have broken the bars of wood, but you have made in their place bars of iron."

14. For the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel says, "I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of BABYLON; and they will serve him. I have also given him the animals of the field."'"

15. Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, "Listen, Hananiah! the LORD has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie.

16. Therefore the LORD says, 'Behold, I will send you away from off the surface of the earth. This year you will die, because you have spoken rebellion against The LORD.'"

17. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.

1. Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to BABYLON,

2. (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. 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). It said:

4. The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to BABYLON:

5. "Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit.

6. Take wives and father sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, and don't be diminished.

7. 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 the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel says: "Don't let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you. Don't 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 the LORD says, "After seventy years are accomplished for BABYLON, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, in causing 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 hope and a future.

12. You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13. You shall 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 turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says The LORD. I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive."

15. Because you have said, "The LORD has raised us up prophets in BABYLON;"

16. The LORD says concerning the king who sits on David's throne, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who haven't gone with you into captivity;

17. The LORD of Armies says: "Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that can't be eaten, they are so bad.

18. I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of horror, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them,

19. because they have not listened to my words," says The LORD, "with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear," says The LORD.

20. Hear therefore The LORD's word, all you captives, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to BABYLON.

21. The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning 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 will kill them before your eyes.

22. A curse will be taken up about them by all the captives of Judah who are in BABYLON, saying, 'The LORD make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of BABYLON roasted in the fire;'

23. because they have done foolish things in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didn't command them. I am he who knows, and am witness," says The LORD.

24. Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying,

25. "The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says, 'Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

26. "The LORD has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in The LORD's house, for every man who is crazy, and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles.

27. Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you,

28. because he has sent to us in BABYLON, saying, The captivity is long. Build houses, and dwell in them. Plant gardens, and eat their fruit?"'"

29. Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.

30. Then The LORD's word came to Jeremiah, saying,

31. "Send to all of the captives, saying, 'The LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: "Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn't send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie;"

32. therefore the LORD says, "Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his offspring. He will not have a man to dwell among this people. He won't see the good that I will do to my people," says The LORD, "because he has spoken rebellion against The LORD."'"