Jer 22, Jer 26 | ESV | STEP | Thus says the Lord : Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word ,

1 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2 and say, ^a‘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: ^bDo justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And ^cdo no wrong or violence ^dto the resident alien, ^ethe fatherless, and the widow, nor ^fshed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, ^gthen 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 ^hswear by myself, declares the Lord, that ⁱthis 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 ^jLebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
^kan uninhabited city. ^{▼▼Hebrew cities}
7 ^mI will prepare destroyers against you,
each with his weapons,
ⁿand 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, ^o“Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” 9 ^pAnd they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”

10 ^qWeep not for him who is dead,
nor grieve for him,
^rbut 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 ^swho went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12 but ^tin the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”

13 ^u“Woe to him who builds his house by ^vunrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
^wwho 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 ^xpainting it with vermilion.
15 Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and ^ydo justice and righteousness?
^zThen it was well with him.
16 ^aaHe judged the cause of the poor and needy;
^abthen it was well.
Is not this ^acto know me?
declares the Lord.
17 But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
^adfor shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”
18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

^ae“They shall not lament for him, saying,
^af‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’
They shall not lament for him, saying,
^ag‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’
19 With the burial of a donkey ^ahhe 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 ^aiAbarim,
for all ^ajyour lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity,
but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
^akThis has been your way from ^alyour youth,
that you have not obeyed my voice.
22 ^amThe wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
and ^anyour lovers shall go into captivity;
^aothen you will be ashamed and confounded
because of all your evil.
23 O inhabitant of ^apLebanon,
nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
^aqpain as of a woman in labor!”
24 ^ar“As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were ^asthe signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and ^atgive you ^auinto 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 ^avI will hurl you and ^awthe 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 ^axConiah a despised, broken pot,
a ^ayvessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
into a ^azland that they do not know?
29 ^baO land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
30 Thus says the Lord:
“Write this man down as ^bbchildless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
^bcfor none of his offspring shall succeed
^bdin sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah.”

Jeremiah 26

Jeremiah Threatened with Death

1 ^beIn the beginning of the reign of ^bfJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: 2 “Thus says the Lord: ^bgStand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord ^bhall the words that I command you to speak to them; ^bido not hold back a word. 3 ^bjIt may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, ^bkthat I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them ^blbecause of their evil deeds. 4 You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^bmIf you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, 5 ^bnand to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you ^bourgently, ^bpthough you have not listened, 6 then I will make this house ^bqlike Shiloh, and I will make this city ^bra curse for all the nations of the earth.’”

7 ^bsThe priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. 8 And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then ^btthe priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! 9 Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be ^bulike Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, ^bvwithout inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

10 When ^bwthe officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and took their seat in the ^bxentry of the New Gate of the house of the Lord. 11 Then ^bythe priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, ^bz“This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”

12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13 Now therefore ^camend your ways and your deeds, ^cband obey the voice of the Lord your God, ^ccand the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. 14 ^cdBut as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15 Only know for certain that if you put me to death, ^ceyou will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

Jeremiah Spared from Death

16 ^cfThen the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, ^cg“This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” 17 ^chAnd certain of ^cithe elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, 18 “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts,

^cj“‘Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height.’
19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? ^ckDid he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, ^cland did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? ^cmBut we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.”

20 There was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from ^cnKiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah. 21 And when ^coKing Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt. 22 Then ^cpKing Jehoiakim sent to Egypt certain men, ^cqElnathan the son of ^crAchbor and others with him, 23 and they took Uriah from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, ^cswho struck him down with the sword and dumped his dead body into the burial place of the common people.

24 But the hand of ^ctAhikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he was not given over to the people to be put to death.