Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when king Zedekiah sent Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to him, saying:

2 “Question the Lord on our behalf, for Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, is fighting against us. Perhaps it may be that the Lord will act toward us according to all his wonders, and he may withdraw from us.”

3 And Jeremiah said to them: “This is what you shall say to Zedekiah:

4 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, who besiege you at the surrounding walls. And I will gather these things together in the midst of this city.

5 And I myself will make war against you: with an outstretched hand, and with a strong arm, and in fury, and in indignation, and in great wrath.

6 And I will strike the inhabitants of this city; men and beasts will die from a great pestilence.

7 And afterward, thus says the Lord: I will give Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his servants, and his people, and those who have been left behind in this city after pestilence and the sword and famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their lives. And he will strike them with the edge of the sword. And he will not waver, and he will not be lenient, and he will not take pity.

8 And to this people, you shall say: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

9 Whoever lives in this city will die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence. But whoever will have departed and fled away to the Chaldeans, who besiege you, will live, and his life will be to him like a spoil.

10 For I have set my face against 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 And to the house of the king of Judah, you shall say: Listen to the word of the Lord,

12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord: Judge with judgment from early morning, and rescue anyone who is oppressed by violence from the hand of a false accuser. Otherwise, my indignation may go forth like a fire, and may flare up, and there will be no one who can extinguish it, because of the evil of your intentions.

13 Behold, I am against you, O inhabitants of a valley with firm and level ground, says the Lord. And you say: ‘Who can strike us? And who can enter into our houses?’

14 But I will visit against you according to the fruit of your intentions, says the Lord. And I will kindle a fire in its forest. And it shall devour everything around it.”

1 Thus says the Lord: “Descend to the house of the king of Judah, and there you shall speak this word.

2 And you shall say: Listen to the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits upon the throne of David: you and your servants, and your people, who enter through these gates.

3 Thus says the Lord: Exercise judgment and justice, and free anyone who is oppressed by violence from the hand of a false accuser. And do not be willing to sadden the new arrival, or the orphan, or the widow, nor should you burden them unfairly. And you shall not shed innocent blood in this place.

4 For if you will indeed accomplish this word, then there will enter through the gates of this house kings from the stock of David, sitting on his throne, and riding on chariots and on horses: they, and their servants, and their people.

5 But if you will not listen to these words, I swear by myself, says the Lord, that this house will be in desolation.

6 For thus says the Lord about the house of the king of Judah: You are to me like Gilead, the head of Lebanon. Certainly, I will make you desolate, with uninhabitable cities.

7 And I will sanctify over you the destroying man and his weapons. And they will cut down your select cedars and throw them violently into the fire.

8 And many nations will pass through this city. And each one will say to his neighbor: ‘Why has the Lord acted in this way toward this great city?’

9 And they will answer: ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God, and they adored strange gods and served them.’

10 You should not choose to weep for the dead, nor should you mourn over them with tears. Lament for him who is departing, for he will return no more, nor will he see his native land again.

11 For thus says the Lord to Shallum, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, who reigned in place of his father, who has departed from this place: He will not return here again.

12 Instead, he will die in the place to which I have transferred him, and he will not see this land anymore.

13 Woe to one who builds his house with injustice and his upper rooms without judgment, who oppresses his friend without cause and does not pay him his wages.

14 And he says: ‘I will build a broad house for myself, with spacious upper rooms.’ He makes windows for himself, and he builds the roof out of cedar, and he paints it with red ocher.

15 Will you reign because you compare yourself to the cedar? Did your father not eat and drink, and act with judgment and justice, so that it would be well with him?

16 He judged the case of the poor and the indigent for their good. Was this not because he knew me, says the Lord?

17 Yet truly, your eyes and your heart are toward avarice and the shedding of innocent blood, and toward false accusations and the pursuit of evil deeds.

18 Because of this, thus says the Lord toward Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah: They will not mourn for him by saying, ‘Alas,’ to a brother, or, ‘Alas,’ to a sister. They will not make a noise for him and say, ‘Alas,’ to a master, or, ‘Alas,’ to a nobleman.

19 He will be buried with the burial of a donkey, having rotted and been thrown out of the gates of Jerusalem.

20 Ascend to Lebanon and cry out! And utter your voice in Bashan, and cry out to those passing by. For all your lovers have been crushed.

21 I spoke to you in your abundance, and you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from your youth, for you have not listened to my voice.

22 The wind will feed all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. And then you will be confounded, and you will be ashamed of all your wickedness.

23 You who sit in Lebanon, and who nest in the cedars, in what way did you mourn when suffering came to you, like the suffering of a woman giving birth?

24 As I live, says the Lord, if Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a ring on my right hand, I would remove him from there.

25 And I will deliver you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you dread, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

26 And I will send you, and your mother who conceived you, into a foreign land, in which you were not born, and there you shall die.

27 And to the land about which they lift up their mind, thinking to return there, they shall not return.

28 Is this man, Jeconiah, a broken earthenware vessel? Is he a vessel which is entirely unpleasing? Why have they been cast out, he and his offspring, cast out even into a land that they have not known?

29 O earth, O earth, O earth! Listen to the word of the Lord!

30 Thus says the Lord: Write: this man is barren; he is a man who will not prosper in his days. For there will not be a man from among his offspring who will sit upon the throne of David, or have authority in Judah, anymore.”

1 “Woe to the shepherds who scatter and tear apart the sheep of my pasture, says the Lord.

2 Because of this, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to the shepherds who pasture my people: You have scattered my flock, and you have driven them away, and you have not visited them. Behold, I will visit upon you because of your evil pursuits, says the Lord.

3 And I will gather together the remnant of my flock from the entire earth, from the places to which I had cast them out. And I will return them to their own fields. And they will increase and be multiplied.

4 And I will raise up shepherds over them, and they will pasture them. They will no longer dread, and they will no longer fear. And no one among their number will be seeking more, says the Lord.

5 Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous branch. And a king will reign, and he will be wise. And he will exercise judgment and justice upon the earth.

6 In those days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in confidence. And this is the name that they will call him: ‘The Lord, our Just One.’

7 Because of this, behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who led the sons of Israel away from the land of Egypt,’

8 but instead, ‘As the Lord lives, who led away and brought back the offspring of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from the entire earth,’ from the places to which I had cast them out. And they will live in their own land.”

9 To the prophets: “My heart is crushed within me. All my bones are trembling. I have become like an inebriated man, and like a man maddened by wine, before the face of the Lord, and before the face of his holy words.

10 For the earth is full of adulterers! And the earth has mourned before the face of evil talk. The plains of the desert have dried up, and their course has become hazardous, and their firmness has become uneven.”

11 “For both the prophet and the priest have become polluted, and I have found their wickedness within my own house, says the Lord.

12 For this reason, their way will be like a slippery path in the dark. For they will be impelled forward, and they will fall in it. For I will bring evils over them, in the year of their visitation, says the Lord.

13 And I have seen the foolishness of the prophets of Samaria. They have prophesied in Baal, and they have deceived my people Israel.

14 And in the prophets of Jerusalem, I have seen the likeness of adulterers and the path of falsehood. And they have strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that each one would not convert from his malice. They have all become to me like Sodom, and its inhabitants have become like Gomorrah.”

15 Because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts to the prophets: “Behold, I will feed them absinthe, and I will give them gall to drink. For from the prophets of Jerusalem corruption has gone forth over the entire earth.”

16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not choose to listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you and deceive you. They speak a vision from their own heart, and not from the mouth of the Lord.

17 To those who blaspheme me, they say: ‘The Lord has said: You shall have peace.’ And to every one who walks in the depravity of his own heart, they have said: ‘No evil will overwhelm you.’ “

18 For who has been present in the counsel of the Lord, and who has seen and heard his word? Who has considered his word and heard it?

19 Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord’s indignation will go forth, and a tempest will break out; it will overwhelm the head of the impious.

20 The fury of the Lord will not return until it succeeds, and until it completes the plan of his heart. In the last days, you will understand this counsel.

21 “I did not send these prophets, yet they hurry forward. I was not speaking to them, yet they were prophesying.

22 If they had stood in my counsel, and if I had made my words known to my people, certainly I would have turned them away from their evil ways and from their most wicked plans.

23 Do you not realize that I am a God close by, says the Lord, and not a God far away?

24 If a man is hidden in concealed places, do I not see him, says the Lord? Do I not fill up heaven and earth, says the Lord?

25 I have heard what the prophets have said, prophesying falsehoods in my name, and also saying: ‘I have dreamed! I have dreamed!’

26 How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who predict what is false, and who prophesy deceptions from their own heart?

27 They want to cause my people to forget my name, by means of their dreams, which each of them describes to his neighbor, just as their fathers forgot my name for the sake of Baal.

28 The prophet who has had a dream, let him describe the dream. And he who receives my word, let him speak my word in truth. For what has the chaff to do with the wheat, says the Lord?

29 Are not my words like a fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer crushing rock?

30 Therefore, behold: I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who steal my words, each one from his neighbor.

31 Behold, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who take up their tongues and say: ‘The Lord says it.’

32 Behold, I am against the prophets, who dream what is false, says the Lord; who explain and so seduce my people with their falsehoods and with their miracles, though I did not send them, nor did I command them. They have offer nothing beneficial to this people, says the Lord.

33 Therefore, if this people, or a prophet, or a priest questions you, saying, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden. And certainly I will cast you away, says the Lord.’

34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, ‘The burden of the Lord!’ I will visit upon that man and upon his house.

35 And then you will speak in this way, each one to his neighbor and to his brother: ‘What has the Lord answered? And what has the Lord said?’

36 And the burden of the Lord will be no longer be called to mind. For each one’s own word will be a burden. For you have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts, our God.

37 And then you will speak in this way to the prophet: ‘What has the Lord answered you? And what has the Lord spoken?’

38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord!’ then because of this, thus says the Lord: Since you have spoken this word, ‘The burden of the Lord!’ though I sent to you telling you not to say: ‘The burden of the Lord,’

39 because of this, behold, I will take you away, like a burden, and I will forsake you, as well as the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, before my face.

40 And I will give you over to an everlasting reproach and an eternal disgrace, which shall never be wiped away into oblivion.”

1 The Lord revealed to me, and behold, two baskets full of figs were set before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, carried away Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and his leaders, and the craftsmen and engravers of Jerusalem, and led them into Babylon.

2 One basket had exceedingly good figs, like the figs usually found early in the season, and the other basket had exceedingly bad figs, which could not be eaten because they were so bad.

3 And the Lord said to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said: “Figs: the good figs are very good, and the bad figs are very bad and cannot be eaten because they are so bad.”

4 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

5 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Just like these good figs, so will I regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent from this place into the land of the Chaldeans.

6 And I will set my eyes upon them, so as to be pleased. And I will lead them back into this land. And I will build them up, and I will not tear them down. And I will plant them, and I will not uproot them.

7 And I will give them a heart, so that they may know me, that I am the Lord. And they will be my people, and I will be their God. For they shall return to me with their whole heart.

8 And just like the very bad figs, which cannot be eaten because they are so bad, thus says the Lord: so will I regard Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his leaders, and the rest of Jerusalem, those who have remained in this city, and those who are living in the land of Egypt.

9 And I will give them over, with upheaval and affliction, to all the kingdoms of the earth: to be a disgrace, and a parable, and a proverb, and a curse in all the places to which I have cast them out.

10 And I will send among them the sword, and famine, and pestilence: until they have been worn away from the land, which I gave to them and to their fathers.”

1 The word that came to Jeremiah about all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah. The same is the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.

2 And the prophet Jeremiah 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, the king of Judah, even until this day, which is the twenty-third year, the word of the Lord has been given to me, and I have spoken to you, rising while it was still night, and speaking, and yet you have not listened.

4 And the Lord has sent to you all his servants, the prophets, rising at first light, and sending, and yet you have not listened, and you have not inclined your ears, so that you would hear,

5 when he said: Return, each one from his evil way, and from your wicked thoughts. And you shall dwell in the land, which the Lord has given to you and to your fathers, from ancient times and even forever.

6 And do not choose to go after strange gods, so that you would serve them and adore them. And do not provoke me to wrath by the works of your hands. And then I will not afflict you.

7 And yet you have not listened to me, says the Lord, and so you have provoked me to anger with the works of your hands, to your own harm.”

8 Because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Since you have not listened to my words,

9 behold, I will send for and take all the associates of the north, says the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will lead them over this land, and over its inhabitants, and over all the nations that are around it. And I will destroy them, and I will set them in the midst of stupor and hissing, and continual desolations.

10 And I will perish from them the voice of gladness and the voice of rejoicing, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstone and the light of the lamp.

11 And this entire land will be in desolation and in stupor. And all these nations will serve the king of Babylon, for seventy years.

12 And when the seventy years have been completed, I will visit their iniquity upon the king of Babylon, and upon that nation, and upon the land of the Chaldeans, says the Lord. And I will set it in continual desolations.

13 And I will lead over that land all my words, which I have spoken against it, all that has been written in this book, everything whatsoever that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.

14 For they have served them, though these were populous nations and great kings. And I will repay them according to their works and according to the deeds of their hands.”

15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Take the chalice of the wine of this fury from my hand. And you shall cause all the nations, to which I will send you, to drink from it.

16 And they will drink, and be stirred up, and become maddened, before the face of the sword that I will send among them.”

17 And I received the chalice from the hand of the Lord, and I caused all the nations, to which the Lord has sent me, to drink from it:

18 Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and its leaders, so that I gave them over to desolation, and stupor, and hissing, and a curse, just as it is this day.

19 “But as for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and his servants, and his leaders, and all his people,

20 and the entire populace in general: all the kings of the land of the south, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,

21 and Idumea, and Moab, and the sons of Ammon,

22 and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the land of the islands that are across the sea,

23 and Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all those who have shaved off their hair,

24 and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the west, who live in the desert,

25 and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media,

26 and likewise, all the kings of the north from near to far, each one facing his brother, and all the kingdoms upon the face of the earth, and the king of Sesac: all these shall drink after them.

27 And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, and be inebriated, and vomit, and fall down. And you shall not rise up before the face the sword that I will send among you.

28 And if they refuse to receive the cup from your hand and to drink, you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Certainly, you shall drink!

29 For behold, I am beginning to afflict the city in which my name has been invoked, and will you be innocent and immune? You will not be immune! For I will call the sword over all the inhabitants of the earth, says the Lord of hosts.

30 And you shall prophesy to them all these words, and you shall say to them: The Lord will roar from on high, and he will utter his voice from his holy habitation. When roaring, he will roar over the place of his beauty. He will call out, like those who chant in rhythm as they trample the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.

31 The sound of it will penetrate even to the ends of the earth. For the Lord is entering into judgment with the nations. He himself is entering into judgment with all flesh. I have delivered the impious to the sword, says the Lord.”

32 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, an affliction will go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind will go forth from the ends of the earth.

33 And the slain of the Lord will be, on that day, from one end of the earth, even to the other end. They will not be mourned, and they will not be gathered, and they will not be buried. They will lie upon the face of the earth like dung.

34 Wail, O shepherds, and cry out! And sprinkle yourselves with ashes, O nobles of the flock! For the days have been completed that lead to your slaughter and your destruction. And you will fall like precious vessels.

35 And escape will flee from the shepherds, and safety will flee from the nobility of the flock.”

36 There is a voice of outcry from the shepherds, and a wailing among the nobles among the flock! For the Lord has laid waste to their pastures.

37 And the fields of peace have been silenced before the face of the fury of the Lord.

38 He has abandoned those he sheltered like a lion. For the earth has become a desolation before the face of the anger of the dove, and before the face of the fury of the Lord.

1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying:

2 “Thus says the Lord: Stand in the atrium of the house of the Lord, and speak to all the cities of Judah, from which they come to adore in the house of the Lord, all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not choose to subtract any word.

3 So may they hear and be converted, each one from his evil way. And then I may repent of the evil that I plan to do to them because of the wickedness of their pursuits.

4 And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: If you will not listen to me, so that you walk in my law, which I have given to you,

5 so that you listen to the words of my servants, the prophets, whom I have sent to you, who arise while it is still night, and though they give guidance, you do not listen,

6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city into a curse for all the nations of the earth.”

7 And the priests, and the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord.

8 And when Jeremiah had completed speaking all that the Lord had instructed him to speak to all the people, then the priests, and the prophets, and all the people apprehended him, saying: “You shall be put to death.”

9 “Why has he prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying: ‘Like Shiloh, so shall this house be,’ and, ‘This city shall be made desolate, even without an inhabitant?’ ” And all the people were gathered together against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

10 And the leaders of Judah heard these words. And they ascended from the house of the king to the house of the Lord, and they sat at the entrance by the new gate of the house of the Lord.

11 And the priests and the prophets spoke to the leaders and to all the people, saying: “A judgment of death is for this man. For he has prophesied against this city, just as you have heard with your own ears.”

12 And Jeremiah spoke to all the leaders and to the entire people, saying: “The Lord has sent me to prophesy, about this house and about this city, all the words that you have heard.

13 Now, therefore, make your ways and your intentions good, and heed the voice of the Lord your God. And then the Lord will repent of the evil that he has spoken against you.

14 But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do to me what is good and right in your eyes.

15 Yet truly, know and understand this: if you kill me, you will be bringing innocent blood against yourselves, and against this city and its inhabitants. For in truth, the Lord sent me to you, so as to speak all these words in your hearing.”

16 And then the leaders and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets: “There is no judgment of death against this man. For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”

17 Then some of the elders of the land rose up. And they spoke to the entire assembly of the people, saying:

18 “Micah from Moresheth was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: Zion will be ploughed like a field. And Jerusalem will be a pile of stones. And the mountain of the house will be like the forests of high places.’

19 Did the king of Judah, Hezekiah, with all of Judah, condemn him to death? Did they not fear the Lord, and petition the face of the Lord? And so the Lord repented of the evil that he had spoken against them. Therefore, we are committing a great evil against our own souls.

20 Likewise, there was a man prophesying in the name of the Lord: Uriah, the son of Shemaiah, of Kiriath-jearim. And he prophesied against this city and against this land, in accord with all the words of Jeremiah.

21 And king Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and leaders, heard these words. And so the king sought to put him to death. And Uriah heard, and was afraid, and fled, and he entered into Egypt.

22 And king Jehoiakim sent men into Egypt: Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and the men who went with him into Egypt.

23 And they led Uriah out of Egypt. And they brought him to king Jehoiakim, and he struck him down with the sword. And he cast his dead body among the graves of the common people.”

24 But the hand of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, was with Jeremiah, so that he would not be delivered into the hands of the people, and so that they would not put him to death.

1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:

2 “Thus says the Lord to me: Make bands and chains for yourself. And you shall place them on your neck.

3 And you shall send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the sons of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who came to Jerusalem, to Zedekiah, the king of Judah.

4 And you shall instruct them to say to their masters: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You shall say these things to your masters:

5 I made the earth, and the men and beasts which are upon the face of the earth, by my great strength and by my outstretched arm. And I have given it to whomever it was pleasing in my eyes.

6 And now, therefore, I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant. Moreover, I have given to him also the beasts of the field, so that they may serve him.

7 And all the nations will serve him, and his son, and his son’s son. Many nations and great kings will serve him, until the time arrives for him and his land.

8 But the nation or kingdom that will not serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and whoever will not bend his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will visit upon that nation with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, says the Lord, until I consume them by his hand.

9 Therefore, you should not choose to listen to your own prophets, and diviners, and dreamers, and soothsayers, and sorcerers, who say to you: ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’

10 For they prophesy lies to you, so that they may cause you to be far from your own country, and may cast you out, and may cause you to perish.

11 Furthermore, the nation which will bend its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and which will serve him, I will permit them to remain in their own land, says the Lord. And they will cultivate it, and they will live in it.”

12 And I spoke to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, according to all these words, saying: “Subject your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and you will live.

13 Why should you suffer death, you and your people, by the sword, and famine, and pestilence, just as the Lord has spoken against any nation that refuses to serve the king of Babylon?

14 Do not choose to listen to the words of the prophets, saying to you: ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ For they are speaking a lie to you.

15 For I have not sent them, says the Lord. And they prophesy falsely in my name, so that they may cast you out, and so that you may perish, both you and the prophets who make predictions for you.”

16 I spoke also to the priests and to this people, saying: “Thus says the Lord: Do not choose to listen to the words of your prophets, who prophesy to you, saying: ‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord will now quickly be returned from Babylon.’ For they are prophesying to you a lie.

17 Therefore, do not choose to listen to them, but instead, serve the king of Babylon, so that you may live. Why should this city be given over into desolation?

18 But if they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is in them, then let them intercede before the Lord of hosts, so that the vessels that were left behind in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon.

19 For thus says the Lord of hosts to the pillars, and to the sea of brass, and to the bases, and to the remainder of the vessels that have been left behind in this city,

20 which Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, did not take when he carried away Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, from Jerusalem into Babylon, with all the nobility of Judah and Jerusalem:

21 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to the vessels that were left behind in the house of the Lord and in the house of the king of Judah and Jerusalem:

22 They shall be carried away to Babylon, and there they shall be, until the day of their visitation, says the Lord. And then I will cause them to be carried back, and to be restored to this place.

1 And it happened in that year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah, the son of Azur, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me, in the house of the Lord, in the sight of the priests and all the people, saying:

2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

3 There are still two years of days, and then I will cause to be carried back to this place all the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, took from this place and carried away to Babylon.

4 And I will return to this place: Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, and all those taken captive from Judah, who were brought into Babylon, says the Lord. For I will crush the yoke of the king of Babylon.”

5 And Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Hananiah the prophet, before the eyes of the priests and before the eyes of all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord.

6 And Jeremiah the prophet said: “Amen, may the Lord accomplish this; may the Lord act upon your words, which you have prophesied, so that the vessels may be carried back to the house of the Lord, and so that all those taken captive may return from Babylon to this place.

7 Yet truly, listen to this word, which I am speaking to your ears and to the ears of all the people.

8 The prophets, who were before me and before you, from the beginning, have prophesied over many lands and over great kingdoms, about war, and about affliction, and about famine.

9 The prophet who has predicted peace, if his word will occur, then the prophet will be known as one whom the Lord has sent in truth.”

10 And Hananiah the prophet took the chain from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, and he broke it.

11 And Hananiah spoke in the sight of all the people, saying: “Thus says the Lord: So shall I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, after two years of days, from the neck of all the people.”

12 And Jeremiah the prophet went his own way. And after Hananiah the prophet had broken the chain from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:

13 “Go, and you shall say to Hananiah: Thus says the Lord: You have broken chains of wood, and so you will make for them chains of iron.

14 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have placed a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, so that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. And they shall serve him. Moreover, I have given to him even the beasts of the earth.”

15 And Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet: “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, and so you have caused this people to trust in a lie.

16 For this reason, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will send you away from the face of the earth. This year, you shall die. For you have spoken against the Lord.”

17 And Hananiah the prophet died in that year, in the seventh month.

1 And these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah, the prophet, sent from Jerusalem to the remnant of the elders of the transmigration, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had led away from Jerusalem to Babylon,

2 after king Jeconiah, with the queen, and the eunuchs, and the leaders of Judah and of Jerusalem, and the craftsmen and engravers, had departed from Jerusalem.

3 It was sent by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and by Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, the king of Judah, sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, saying:

4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who have been taken away, whom I have caused to be transferred from Jerusalem to Babylon:

5 Build houses and live in them. And plant gardens, and eat from their fruit.

6 Take wives, and conceive sons and daughters. And give wives to your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, and let them bear sons and daughters. And be multiplied there, and do not choose to be few in number.

7 And seek the peace of the city, to which I have caused you to be taken away, and pray to the Lord on its behalf. For your peace will be in its peace.

8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not allow your prophets and your diviners, who are in your midst, to seduce you. And you should pay no attention to your dreams, which you are dreaming.

9 For they prophesy falsely to you in my name, and I have not sent them, says the Lord.

10 For thus says the Lord: When the seventy years will begin to be completed in Babylon, I will visit you. And I will raise up over you my good word, so that I may lead you back to this place.

11 For I know the thoughts that I think over you, says the Lord: thoughts of peace and not of affliction, so that I may give you patience and an end.

12 And you shall call upon me, and you shall go forth. And you shall pray to me, and I will heed you.

13 You shall seek me. And you will find me, when you have sought me with your whole heart.

14 And I will be found by you, says the Lord. And I will lead you back from your captivity. And I will gather you from all the nations and all the places, to which I have expelled you, says the Lord. And I will return you from the place to which I sent you into captivity.

15 For you have said: ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon.’

16 For thus says the Lord, to the king who sits upon the throne of David, and to all the people who live in this city, to your brothers who have not departed with you in the transmigration:

17 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send among them the sword, and famine, and pestilence. And I will make them like the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, because they are very bad.

18 And I will pursue them with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence. And I will give them over to affliction, amid all the kingdoms of the earth: as a curse, and in stupor, and with hissing, and as a disgrace among all the nations to which I have driven them out.

19 For they have not listened to my words, says the Lord, which I sent to them through my servants, the prophets, rising while it was still night, and sending. But you have not listened, says the Lord.

20 Therefore, listen to the word of the Lord, all you of the transmigration, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem into Babylon.

21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and to Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy falsely to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he will strike them down before your eyes.

22 And a curse will be taken up about them, by all the captives of Judah that are in Babylon, saying: ‘May the Lord make you like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon fried in the fire!’

23 For they have acted foolishly in Israel, and they have committed adultery with the wives of their friends, and they have spoken lying words in my name, which I did not command them. I am the Judge and the Witness, says the Lord.

24 And to Shemaiah of Nehelam, you shall say:

25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Similarly, you have sent letters in your name to all the people that are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying:

26 ‘The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada, the priest, so that you would be the ruler in the house of the Lord over every man who raves and prophesies, to send him to the stocks and to prison.

27 And now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesies to you?

28 For about this, he has sent to us in Babylon, saying: It is a long time. Build houses and live in them. And plant gardens, and eat from their fruits.’ “

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

30 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:

31 “Send to all those of the transmigration, saying: Thus says the Lord to Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, though I did not send him, and because he has caused you to trust in a lie:

32 For this reason, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will visit upon Shemaiah of Nehelam, and upon his offspring. There will not be, for him, even one man sitting in the midst of this people. And he will not see the good that I will accomplish for my people, says the Lord. For he has spoken a betrayal against the Lord.”

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:

2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, saying: You shall write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you.

3 For behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will convert the turning away of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord. And I will return them to the land which I gave to their fathers, and they will possess it.”

4 And these are the words which the Lord has spoken to Israel and to Judah:

5 For thus says the Lord: ‘We have heard a voice of terror. There is dread, and there is no peace.’

6 Inquire and see, does a male give birth? Then why have I seen every man with his hand on his lower back, like a woman bearing a child? And why have all of their faces turned pale?

7 Woe! For that day is great, and there is nothing like it. For it is the time of tribulation for Jacob, but he will be saved from it.

8 And this shall be in that day, says the Lord of hosts: I will crush his yoke from your neck, and I will break open his bands. And strangers will no longer rule over him.

9 Instead, they will serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

10 Therefore, O my servant Jacob, you should not be afraid, says the Lord, and you should not be frightened, O Israel. For behold, I will save you from a far away land, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and have rest, and he shall flow with every good thing. And there will be no one for him to dread.

11 For I am with you, says the Lord, so that I may save you. For I will bring about the consummation of all the nations, among which I have scattered you. But I will not bring about your consummation. Instead, I will chastise you in judgment, so that you will not seem innocent to yourself.”

12 For thus says the Lord: “Your fracture is incurable; your wound is very serious.

13 There is no one who may judge your judgment, so as to bandage it; there is no useful treatment for you.

14 All your lovers have forgotten you, and they will not seek you. For I have wounded you with the strike of an enemy, with a cruel chastisement. Your sins have become hardened because of the multitude of your iniquities.

15 Why do you cry out over your affliction? Your pain is incurable. I have done these things to you because of the multitude of your iniquity and because of your hardened sins.

16 Because of this, all those who devour you, will be devoured. And all your enemies will be led into captivity. And those who devastate you, will be devastated. And all those who prey upon you, I will offer as a prey.

17 For I will close up your scar, and I will heal you of your wounds, says the Lord. For they have called you an outcast, O Zion: ‘This is she who has no one asking for her.’ “

18 Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will turn back the turning away of the tabernacles of Jacob, and I will take pity on his roofs. And the city will be built up in her heights, and the temple will be founded according to its order.

19 And praise will go forth from them, with the voice of those who play. And I will multiply them, and they will not be lessened. And I will glorify them, and they will not be weakened.

20 And their sons will be as in the beginning. And their assembly will remain in my sight. And I will visit against all those who trouble them.

21 And their ruler will one of their own. And their prince will be led forward from their midst. And I will draw him near, and he will cling to me. For who is the one who applies his heart, so that he may draw near to me, says the Lord?

22 And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

23 Behold the whirlwind of the Lord, his fury going forth, a destroying storm! It will rest upon the head of the impious.

24 The Lord will not turn back the wrath of his indignation, until he has accomplished and completed the plan of his heart. In the last days, you shall understand these things.