Jer 21-25 | ESV | STEP | This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord , when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest , the son of Maaseiah , saying ,

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him ^aPashhur the son of Malchiah and ^bZephaniah the priest, the son of ^cMaaseiah, saying, 2 ^d“Inquire of the Lord for us, ^efor Nebuchadnezzar ^{▼▼Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, an alternate spelling of Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon) occurring frequently from Jeremiah 21–52; this latter spelling is used throughout Jeremiah for consistency} king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to ^gall his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”

3 Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^hBehold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. ⁱAnd I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you ^jwith outstretched hand and strong arm, ^kin anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, declares the Lord, ^lI will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. ^mHe shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’

8 “And to this people you shall say: ⁿ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, ^oI set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who stays in this city shall die ^pby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and ^qsurrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live ^rand shall have his life as a prize of war. 10 For ^sI have set my face against this city for harm and ^tnot for good, declares the Lord: ^uit shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’

Message to the House of David

11 “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord:

^v“‘Execute justice ^win the morning,
and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
him who has been robbed,
^xlest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of your evil deeds.’”
13 ^y“Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
O rock of the plain,

declares the Lord;
you who say, ^z‘Who shall come down against us,
or who shall enter our habitations?’
14 ^aaI will punish you according to ^abthe fruit of your deeds,

declares the Lord;
^acI will kindle a fire in her forest,
^adand it shall devour all that is around her.”

Jeremiah 22

1 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2 and say, ^ae‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the Lord: ^afDo justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And ^agdo no wrong or violence ^ahto the resident alien, ^aithe fatherless, and the widow, nor ^ajshed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, ^akthen there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I ^alswear by myself, declares the Lord, that ^amthis house shall become a desolation. 6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:

“‘You are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of ^anLebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
^aoan uninhabited city. ^{▼▼Hebrew cities}
7 ^aqI will prepare destroyers against you,
each with his weapons,
^arand they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.
8 “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, ^as“Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” 9 ^atAnd they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”

10 ^auWeep not for him who is dead,
nor grieve for him,
^avbut weep bitterly for him who goes away,
for he shall return no more
to see his native land.

Message to the Sons of Josiah

11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and ^awwho went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12 but ^axin the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”

13 ^ay“Woe to him who builds his house by ^azunrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
^bawho makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
14 who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and ^bbpainting it with vermilion.
15 Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and ^bcdo justice and righteousness?
^bdThen it was well with him.
16 ^beHe judged the cause of the poor and needy;
^bfthen it was well.
Is not this ^bgto know me?
declares the Lord.
17 But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
^bhfor shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”
18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

^bi“They shall not lament for him, saying,
^bj‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’
They shall not lament for him, saying,
^bk‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’
19 With the burial of a donkey ^blhe shall be buried,
dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
20 “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from ^bmAbarim,
for all ^bnyour lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity,
but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
^boThis has been your way from ^bpyour youth,
that you have not obeyed my voice.
22 ^bqThe wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
and ^bryour lovers shall go into captivity;
^bsthen you will be ashamed and confounded
because of all your evil.
23 O inhabitant of ^btLebanon,
nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
^bupain as of a woman in labor!”
24 ^bv“As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were ^bwthe signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and ^bxgive you ^byinto the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 ^bzI will hurl you and ^cathe mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”

28 Is this man ^cbConiah a despised, broken pot,
a ^ccvessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
into a ^cdland that they do not know?
29 ^ceO land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
30 Thus says the Lord:
“Write this man down as ^cfchildless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
^cgfor none of his offspring shall succeed
^chin sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah.”

Jeremiah 23

The Righteous Branch

1 ^ci“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning ^cjthe shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. ^ckBehold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. 3 ^clThen I will gather the remnant of my flock ^cmout of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, ^cnand they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 ^coI will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.

5 ^cp“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous ^cqBranch, and ^crhe shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and ^csIsrael will ^ctdwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ^cu‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

7 ^cv“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew I} had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”

Lying Prophets

9 Concerning the prophets:

^cxMy heart is broken within me;
^cyall my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
and because of his holy words.
10 ^czFor the land is full of adulterers;
^dabecause of the curse ^dbthe land mourns,
and ^dcthe pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
^ddTheir course is evil,
and their might is not right.
11 ^de“Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
even ^dfin my house I have found their evil,

declares the Lord.
12 ^dgTherefore their way shall be to them
like slippery paths ^dhin the darkness,
into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
^diin the year of their punishment,

declares the Lord.
13 In the prophets of ^djSamaria
^dkI saw an unsavory thing:
^dlthey prophesied by Baal
^dmand led my people Israel astray.
14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrible thing:
^dnthey commit adultery and walk in lies;
^dothey strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his evil;
^dpall of them have become like Sodom to me,
^dqand its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
^dr“Behold, I will feed them with bitter food
^dsand give them ^dtpoisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, ^dufilling you with vain hopes. ^dvThey speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ^dw‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who ^dxstubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ^dy‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

18 For ^dzwho among them has stood in the council of the Lord
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
19 ^eaBehold, the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
^eba whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
20 ^ecThe anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and ^edaccomplished
the intents of his heart.
^eeIn the latter days you will understand it clearly.
21 ^ef“I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
22 ^egBut if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
^ehand they would have turned them from their evil way,
and ^eifrom the evil of their deeds.
23 ^ej“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 ^ekCan a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. ^elDo I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said ^emwho prophesy lies in my name, saying, ^en‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of ^eothe prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name ^epby their dreams that they tell one another, even as their ^eqfathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 ^erLet the prophet who has a dream ^estell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. ^etWhat has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. 29 ^euIs not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and ^evlike a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 ^ewTherefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and ^exlead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when ^eyI did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.

33 ^ez“When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden, ^{▼▼Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden?} and ^fbI will cast you off, declares the Lord.’ 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ ^fcI will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36 But ‘the burden of the Lord’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man’s own word, and ^fdyou pervert the words of ^fethe living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the Lord,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and ^ffcast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 ^fgAnd I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and ^fhperpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”

Jeremiah 24

The Good Figs and the Bad Figs

1 ^fiAfter Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem ^fjJeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with ^fkthe officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, ^fltwo baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. 2 One basket had very good figs, ^fmlike first-ripe figs, but the other basket had ^fnvery bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”

4 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, ^fowhom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 ^fpI will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. ^fqI will build them up, and not tear them down; ^frI will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 ^fsI will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, ^ftand they shall be my people ^fuand I will be their God, ^fvfor they shall return to me with their whole heart.

8 “But thus says the Lord: Like ^fwthe bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat ^fxZedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who ^fydwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them ^fza horror ^{▼▼Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil} to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be ^gba reproach, ^gca byword, ^gda taunt, and ^gea curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send ^gfsword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.”

Jeremiah 25

Seventy Years of Captivity

1 ^ggThe word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, ^ghfrom the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken ^gipersistently to you, ^gjbut you have not listened. 4 ^gkYou have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord ^glpersistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, ^gm‘Turn now, every one of you, ^gnfrom his evil way and evil deeds, and ^godwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 ^gpDo not go after other gods to serve and worship them, ^gqor provoke me to anger ^grwith the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ 7 ^gsYet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, ^gtthat you might provoke me to anger ^guwith the work of your hands to your own harm.

8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 ^gvbehold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^gwmy servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, ^gxand make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, ^gyI will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, ^gzthe grinding of the millstones and ^hathe light of the lamp. 11 ^hbThis whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and ^hcthese nations shall serve the king of Babylon ^hdseventy years. 12 Then after ^heseventy years are completed, ^hfI will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, ^hgthe land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, ^hhmaking the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written ^hiin this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 ^hjFor many nations ^hkand great kings shall make slaves even of them, ^hland I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath

15 Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: ^hm“Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of ^hnthe sword that I am sending among them.”

17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, ^hoand made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: 18 ^hpJerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, ^hqto make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 ^hrPharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and ^hsall the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of ^htthe land of Uz and all the kings of ^huthe land of the Philistines ( ^hvAshkelon, ^hwGaza, Ekron, and the remnant of ^hxAshdod); 21 ^hyEdom, ^hzMoab, and the sons of ^iaAmmon; 22 all the kings of ^ibTyre, all the kings of ^icSidon, and the kings of the coastland across ^idthe sea; 23 ^ieDedan, ^ifTema, ^igBuz, and all who cut ^ihthe corners of their hair; 24 all the ⁱⁱkings of Arabia and all the kings of ^ijthe mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of ^ikElam, and all the kings of ^ilMedia; 26 all the kings of ^imthe north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of ⁱⁿBabylon ^{▼▼Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon} shall drink.

27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^ipDrink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of ^iqthe sword that I am sending among you.’

28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^irYou must drink! 29 For behold, ^isI begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, ^itfor I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.’

30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:

^iu“‘The Lord will roar from on high,
and from his holy habitation utter his voice;
he will roar mightily against his fold,
^ivand shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,
for ^iwthe Lord has an indictment against the nations;
^ixhe is entering into judgment with all flesh,
and the wicked he will put to the sword,

declares the Lord.’
32 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Behold, disaster is going forth
from nation to nation,
^iyand a great tempest is stirring
^izfrom the farthest parts of the earth!
33 ^ja“And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. ^jbThey shall not be lamented, ^jcor gathered, or buried; ^jdthey shall be dung on the surface of the ground.

34 ^je“Wail, ^jfyou shepherds, and cry out,
^jgand roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,
for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,
and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
35 No refuge will remain ^jhfor the shepherds,
nor escape for the lords of the flock.
36 A voice—the cry ^jiof the shepherds,
^jjand the wail of the lords of the flock!
For the Lord is laying waste their pasture,
37 ^jkand the peaceful folds are devastated
^jlbecause of the fierce anger of the Lord.
38 Like a lion ^jmhe has left his lair,
for their land has become a waste
because of ^jnthe sword of the oppressor,
^joand because of his fierce anger.”