Chapter 23
1; Woe to shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture, says YAHWEH.
2; Because of this, so says YAHWEH the Elohim of Israel against the shepherds who shepherd My people: You have scattered My flock, and have driven them away, and have not visited them. Behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings, says YAHWEH.
3; And I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the lands where I have driven them there, and I will bring them again to their fold. And they shall be fruitful and multiply.
4; And I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them. And they will fear no more, nor be terrified; nor will they be missing anything, says YAHWEH.
5; Behold, the days come, says YAHWEH, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and act wisely, and He shall do justice and righteousness in the earth.
6; In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is His name by which He shall be called, YAHWEH TZEDEKENU.
7; Behold, so the days come, says YAHWEH, that they shall no more say, As YAHWEH lives who brought the sons of Israel up out of the land of Egypt;
8; but, As YAHWEH lives who brought up and led the seed of the house of Israel out of the land of the north, and from all the lands where I have driven them there. And they shall dwell on their own land.
9; My heart within me is broken concerning the prophets; all my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, and like a man overcome by wine, because of YAHWEH, and because of the Words of His holiness.
10; For the land is full of adulterers. For the land mourns because of a curse. The pastures of the wilderness are dried up. And their course is evil, and their might is not right.
11; For both prophet and priest are wicked; yea, I have found their evil in My house, says YAHWEH.
12; So their way shall be to them as slippery places in the darkness; they shall be driven out and fall by it. For I will bring evil on them, the year of their judgment, says YAHWEH.
13; And I have seen folly among the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal and led astray My people Israel.
14; I have also seen a horrible thing among the prophets of Jerusalem; they commit adultery and walk in falsehood. And they make the hands of evildoers strong, so that not a man returns from his evil. They are all of them like Sodom to Me, and those living in her like Gomorrah.
15; So YAHWEH of Hosts says this concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them wormwood, and make them drink poisonous water, for wickedness has gone forth from the prophets of Jerusalem into all the land.
16; So says YAHWEH of Hosts, Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you; they make you vain; they speak a vision of their own heart, not out of the mouth of YAHWEH.
17; They say to those who despise Me, YAHWEH has said, You shall have peace. And they say to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, Evil shall not come on you.
18; For who has stood in the counsel of YAHWEH, and has seen and heard His Word? Who has listened to His Word and heard?
19; Behold, the whirlwind of YAHWEH has gone forth in fury, even a whirling storm. It will whirl on the head of the wicked.
20; The anger of YAHWEH shall not turn back until He has executed, and until He has set up the purposes of His heart. In latter days you shall understand it perfectly.
21; I have not sent the prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22; But if they had stood in My counsel and had caused My people to hear My Words, then they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
23; I Am an Elohim near by, says YAHWEH, and not a Elohim from afar.
24; Or can a man hide himself in secret places so that I do not see him, says YAHWEH? Do I not fill the heavens and the earth, says YAHWEH?
25; I have heard what the prophets said, those who prophesy lies in My name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
26; How long is this there in the heart of the prophets, the prophets of lies; yea, the prophets of the deceit of their own heart?
27; They plot to cause My people to forget My name by their dreams which they tell, each one to his neighbor, even as their fathers have forgotten My name for Baal.
28; The prophet who has a dream, let him tell his dream. And he who has My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully. What has the chaff to do with the wheat, says YAHWEH?
29; Is not My Word thus like fire, says YAHWEH, and like a hammer which breaks a rock in pieces?
30; Therefore, Behold, says YAHWEH, I am against the prophets who steal My Words, each one from his neighbor.
31; YAHWEH says, Behold, I am against the prophets who use their tongues and say, He says.
32; YAHWEH says, Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams, and tell them, and cause My people to go astray by their lies, and by their foolishness. Yet I did not send them nor command them. And they will not profit this people at all, says YAHWEH.
33; And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, What is the utterance of YAHWEH? You shall then say to them, What utterance? I will even abandon you, says YAHWEH.
34; And the prophet, and the priest, and the people who shall say, The utterance of YAHWEH, I will even punish that man and his house.
35; And you shall say each one to his neighbor, and each one to his brother, What has YAHWEH answered? And what has YAHWEH spoken?
36; And you shall not mention the utterance of YAHWEH again, for each man's word shall be his burden. But you have perverted the Words of the living Elohim, of YAHWEH of Hosts, our Elohim.
37; So you shall say to the prophet, What has YAHWEH answered you? And what has YAHWEH spoken?
38; But if you say, The utterance of YAHWEH, therefore so says YAHWEH: Because you say this word, the utterance of YAHWEH; and I have sent to you saying, You shall not say, The utterance of YAHWEH;
39; therefore, behold! I, even I will utterly forget you and cast you off and the city that I gave to you and your fathers, away from My face.
40; And I will put on you an everlasting reproach and never-ending disgrace on you, which shall not be forgotten.
Chapter 24
1; YAHWEH caused me see, and behold, two baskets of figs set before the sanctuary of YAHWEH, after Nebuchad-nezzar king of Babylon had exiled Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the rulers of Judah, and the craftsmen, and the smiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
2; One basket had very good figs, like first ripe figs. And the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten from their badness.
3; And YAHWEH said to me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs. The good figs are very good, and the bad are very bad, so that they cannot be eaten from their badness.
4; Again the Word of YAHWEH came to me, saying,
5; So says YAHWEH, the Elohim of Israel, Like these good figs, so I will acknowledge the exiles of Judah whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for good.
6; For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land. And I will build them and not tear down; and I will plant them, and will not pluck up.
7; And I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am YAHWEH. And they shall be My people, and I will be their Elohim. For they shall return to Me with their whole heart.
8; And like the bad figs which cannot be eaten from badness, so says YAHWEH: So I shall make Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his rulers, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt;
9; I will even make them a horror among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil, for a reproach, and a proverb, a gibe, and a curse, there in all places where I will drive them.
10; And I will send the sword, the famine, and the plague among them until they are consumed from being upon the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.
Chapter 25
1; The Word that was to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah. It was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
2; This Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the residents of Jerusalem, saying,
3; From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, this twenty three years, the Word of YAHWEH has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; but you have not listened.
4; And YAHWEH has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending, but you have not listened nor bowed your ear to hear,
5; saying, Now turn each one from his evil way and from the evil of your doings, and live on the land which YAHWEH has given to you and to your fathers from forever even to forever.
6; And do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no harm.
7; Yet you have not listened to Me, says YAHWEH, so that you might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands, for evil to you.
8; So YAHWEH of Hosts says this: Because you have not obeyed My Words,
9; behold! I will send and take all the families of the north, says YAHWEH, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and I will bring them against this land, and against those living in it, and against all these nations all around. And I will completely destroy them, and make them a horror, and a hissing, and everlasting ruins.
10; And I will take from them the voice of rejoicing, 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; And this whole land shall be a waste and a horror; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12; And it shall be, when seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, and the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, says YAHWEH; and I will make it everlasting ruins.
13; And I will bring on that land all My Words which I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.
14; For many nations and great kings will lay service on them, even they. And I will repay them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their own hands.
15; For so says YAHWEH, the Elohim of Israel, to me. Take the wine cup of this wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I shall send you to drink it.
16; And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be maddened, because of the sword that I will send among them.
17; Then I took the cup from the hand of YAHWEH and made all the nations drink, those to whom YAHWEH had sent me:
18; Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and their kings, and their rulers, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;
19; Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his servants, and his rulers, and all his people;
20; and all the mixed people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
21; Edom, and Moab, and the sons of Ammon,
22; and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the coastal kings beyond the sea,
23; Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all who cut the corners of their beards,
24; and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed people who dwell in the desert,
25; and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media,
26; and all the kings of the north, far and near, each one to his brother, and all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
27; So you shall say to them, So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel: Drink, and be drunk, and vomit, and fall, and do not rise up, because of the sword which I will send among you.
28; And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, So says YAHWEH of Hosts, surely you shall drink.
29; For, behold, I begin to bring evil on the city on which is called My name, and shall you be found entirely without guilt? You shall not be without guilt. For I will call for a sword on all those living in the earth, says YAHWEH of Hosts.
30; And now you prophesy against them all these Words, and say to them, YAHWEH shall roar from on high and give forth His voice from His Set-Apart habitation; He shall mightily roar over His dwelling place. He answers with a shout, like those who tread out the grapes, against all those living in the earth.
31; A roaring will go to the ends of the earth, for YAHWEH has a controversy with the nations. He will enter into judgment with all flesh; He will give the wicked to the sword, says YAHWEH.
32; So says YAHWEH of Hosts, Behold, evil is going from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be stirred up from the corners of the earth.
33; And the slain of YAHWEH shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be mourned, nor gathered, nor buried; they shall be as dung on the face of the earth.
34; Howl, O shepherds, and cry, and roll in ashes, O leaders of the flock! For the days of your slaughter and of your scatterings are fulfilled, and you shall fall like a desirable vessel.
35; And refuge has perished from the shepherds, and escape from the leaders of the flock.
36; The sound of the cry of the shepherds, and the howling from the leaders of the flock will be heard. For YAHWEH is spoiling their pasture.
37; And the peaceful pastures are devastated, because of the glow of the anger of YAHWEH.
38; Like the young lion, He has left His den; for their land is a waste because of the glow of the oppressor, and because of His flowing anger.
Chapter 26
1; In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this Word came from YAHWEH, saying,
2; So says YAHWEH, Stand in the court of the house of YAHWEH and speak to all the cities of Judah which come to worship in the house of YAHWEH, all the Words that I command you to speak to them. Do not keep back a word.
3; It may be that they will listen, and each man turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the evil which I plan to do to them because of the evil of their doings.
4; And you shall say to them, So says YAHWEH, If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My Torah which I have set before you,
5; to listen to the words of My servants the prophets whom I am sending to you, even rising up early and sending,
6; then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to 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 YAHWEH.
8; And it happened when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that YAHWEH had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, Surely, you shall die.
9; Why have you prophesied in the name of YAHWEH, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be wasted, without one living in it? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of YAHWEH.
10; When the rulers of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house to the house of YAHWEH and sat down in the entrance of the New Gate of YAHWEH.
11; And the priests and the prophets spoke to the rulers, and to all the people, saying, Let a death sentence be for this man, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.
12; Then Jeremiah spoke to all the rulers and to all the people, saying,
YAHWEH sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the Words that you have heard.
13; So now make good your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of
YAHWEH your Elohim, and YAHWEH will repent toward the evil that He has spoken against you.
14; As for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as seems good and right to you.
15; But know for certain that if you put me to death, you shall surely bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city, and on those living in it. For truly YAHWEH has sent me to you, to speak all these Words in your ears.
16; Then the rulers, and all the people, said to the priests and to the prophets, There is not a sentence of death for this man, for he has spoken to us in the name of YAHWEH our Elohim.
17; Then some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,
18; Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah. And he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, So says YAHWEH of Hosts: Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house like the high places of a forest.
19; Did Hezekiah, king of Judah and all Judah indeed put him to death? Did he not revere YAHWEH and entreat the face of YAHWEH? And did not YAHWEH repent of the evil which He had spoken against them? So we are doing great evil against our souls.
20; And there was also a man who prophesied in the name of YAHWEH, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath- Jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to the words of Jeremiah.
21; And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the rulers, heard his words, the king tried to put him to death. But Urijah heard, and he was afraid, and fled, and went to Egypt.
22; And Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and men with him into Egypt.
23; And they brought Urijah out of Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who struck him with the sword, and threw his dead body into the graves of the sons of the people.
24; But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
Chapter 27
1; In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this Word came to Jeremiah from YAHWEH, saying,
2; So says YAHWEH to me, Make bonds and yokes for yourself, and put them on your neck.
3; And 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, king of Judah.
4; And command them to go to their masters, saying, So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel: So you shall say to your masters,
5; I have made the earth, the man, and the animals on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm; and I have given it to whom it seemed right in My eyes.
6; And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchad- nezzar the king of Babylon, My servant. And I have also given him the beast of the field to serve him.
7; And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land comes; also it. And many nations and great kings shall serve him.
8; And it shall be, the nation and kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put its neck in the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation, says YAHWEH, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the plague, until I have destroyed them by his hand.
9; As for you, do not listen to your prophets, or to those divining to you, or to your dreams, or to your sorcerers, or to your sorcerers, those 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, that I should drive you out, and you should perish.
11; But the nation that will bring its neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, says YAHWEH, I will leave it on its own land, and it may work it and live in it.
12; I also spoke to Zedekiah, king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks into the king of Babylon's yoke, 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 plague, as YAHWEH has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
14; So then do not 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 YAHWEH. Yea, they prophesy a lie in My name, so that I might drive you out, and that you might perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.
16; Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, So says YAHWEH, Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the house of YAHWEH shall now be quickly brought again from Babylon. For they prophesy a lie to you.
17; Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city be a waste?
18; But if they are prophets, and if the Word of YAHWEH is with them, let them now intercede with YAHWEH of Hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of YAHWEH, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon.
19; For so says YAHWEH of Hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels which remain in this city,
20; which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he exiled Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.
21; For so says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of YAHWEH, and the house of the king of Judah, and Jerusalem:
22; They shall be brought to Babylon, and they shall be there until the day I visit them, says YAHWEH. Then I will bring them up and restore them back to this place.
Chapter 28
1; And it happened in that year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, of Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of YAHWEH, for the eyes of the priests and all the people, saying,
2; So says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
3; Within two years I will again bring into this place all the vessels of the house of YAHWEH which Nebuchad- nezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and brought them to Babylon.
4; And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the exiles of Judah who went into Babylon, says YAHWEH. 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 house of YAHWEH,
6; even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amein! May YAHWEH do so; may YAHWEH confirm your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the house of YAHWEH, and all the exiles, from Babylon into this place.
7; But hear now 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 from times past prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of plague.
9; As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, the prophet shall be known as one whom YAHWEH has truly sent him.
10; Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from the prophet Jeremiah's neck and broke it.
11; And Hananiah spoke for the eyes of the people saying, So says YAHWEH, Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the time of two years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
12; Then the Word of YAHWEH came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
13; Go and tell Hananiah, saying, So says YAHWEH, You have broken yokes of wood, but you shall make instead of them yokes of iron.
14; For so says YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And they shall serve him. And I have given him the beasts of the field also.
15; Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah, YAHWEH has not sent you, but you have made this people trust in a lie.
16; So YAHWEH says this, Behold, I send you away from the face of the earth. You shall die this year, because you have spoken apostasy against YAHWEH.
17; And Hananiah died the same year in the seventh month.