Jeremiah 33-38

Jubilee Bible 2000

33 ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying,

² Thus hath said the LORD that makes it, the LORD that forms it to establish it; the LORD is his name;

³ Call unto me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and difficult things, which thou dost not know.

⁴ For thus hath the LORD the God of Israel said concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the siege engines and by the sword

⁵ (because they came to fight with the Chaldeans, to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in my anger and in my fury and because I hid my face from this city due to all her wickedness):

⁶ behold, I will bring her healing and medicine, and I will cure them and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.

⁷ And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to turn and will build them, as at the first.

⁸ And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, with which they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their sins, with which they have sinned against me and with which they rebelled against me.

⁹ And it shall be unto me a name of joy, of praise and of glory among all the Gentiles of the earth, who shall have heard all the good that I do unto them and they shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I shall do unto them.

¹⁰ ¶ Thus hath the LORD said: Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say is desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast,

¹¹ the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of those that shall say, Praise the LORD of the hosts; for the LORD is good; for his mercy endures for ever: and of those that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause the captivity of the land to turn as at the first, said the LORD.

¹² Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, there shall be booths of shepherds who shall cause the flocks to lie down.

¹³ In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that counts them, said the LORD.

¹⁴ Behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will confirm the good Word which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

¹⁵ In those days and at that time, I will cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

¹⁶ In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name with which she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.

¹⁷ ¶ For thus hath the LORD said: David shall never lack a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

¹⁸ neither shall the priests the Levites lack a man before me to offer burnt offerings and to kindle grain offerings and to do sacrifice continually.

¹⁹ And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,

²⁰ Thus hath the LORD said; If ye can break my covenant with the day, and my covenant with the night, such that there should not be day nor night in their season,

²¹ then may also my covenant be broken with David my slave, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites and priests, my ministers.

²² As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David my slave and the Levites that minister unto me.

²³ Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying:

²⁴ Dost thou not consider what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD has chosen, he has even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should no longer be a nation before them.

²⁵ Thus hath the LORD said: If my covenant remains not with the day and the night, and if I have not appointed the laws of the heaven and the earth,

²⁶ then I will cast away the seed of Jacob and David my slave, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; for I will cause their captivity to turn, and I will have mercy on them.

34 ¶ The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, (when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the peoples, fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof) saying,

² Thus hath the LORD God of Israel said: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus hath the LORD said: Behold, I give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:

³ and thou shalt not escape out of his hand but shalt surely be taken and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.

⁴ Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus hath the LORD said of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:

⁵ but thou shalt die in peace: and according to the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, said the LORD.

⁶ Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem

⁷ when the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah, for of the strong cities of Judah these had remained.

⁸ ¶ This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;

⁹ that every man should let his manslave, and every man his maidslave, being a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that no one should use of his brethren, the Jews, as a slave.

¹⁰ Now when all the princes and all the people, who had entered into the covenant, heard that each one should let his manslave and each one his maidslave go free, that no one should use them any more as servants, then they listened and let them go.

¹¹ But afterward they repented and caused the slaves and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return and brought them into subjection for slaves and for handmaids.

¹² Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

¹³ Thus saith the LORD God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying,

¹⁴ At the end of seven years each one shall let his Hebrew brother go, who has been sold unto thee; therefore he shall serve thee six years, and thou shalt send him forth free from thee: but your fathers did not hearken unto me, nor incline their ear.

¹⁵ And ye were now converted and had done right in my sight in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

¹⁶ but ye turned and polluted my name and caused each man his slave and each man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for slaves and for handmaids.

¹⁷ Therefore thus hath the LORD said: Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, each one to his brother and each man to his neighbour; behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, said the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

¹⁸ And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts thereof,

¹⁹ the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;

²⁰ I will even give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those that seek their soul; and their dead bodies shall be for food unto the fowls of the heaven and to the beasts of the earth.

²¹ And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those that seek their soul and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which are gone up from you.

²² Behold, I command, said the LORD and will cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against her and take her and burn her with fire; and I will give the cities of Judah unto desolation until they are without an inhabitant.

35 ¶ The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,

² Go unto the house of the Rechabites and speak with them and bring them into the house of the LORD into one of the chambers and give them wine to drink.

³ Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;

⁴ and I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the vessels:

⁵ and I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine and cups, and I said unto them, Drink wine.

⁶ But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:

⁷ neither shall ye build a house, nor sow seed, nor plant a vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye are strangers.

⁸ Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab our father, the son of Rechab, in all that he has charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;

⁹ nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:

¹⁰ But we have dwelt in tents and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

¹¹ But it came to pass, nevertheless, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem from before the army of the Chaldeans and from before of the army of the Syrians: and so we remain in Jerusalem.

¹² ¶ Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,

¹³ Thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel said: Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye never receive chastisement hearkening to my words? said the LORD.

¹⁴ The word of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, was not moved; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye did not hearken unto me.

¹⁵ I have sent also unto you all my slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Turn ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and ye shall live in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.

¹⁶ Certainly the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have not moved the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people has not hearkened unto me:

¹⁷ therefore thus hath the LORD God of the hosts, the God of Israel said; Behold, I bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I spoke unto them, but they did not hear; and I called unto them, but they did not answer.

¹⁸ And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus hath the LORD of the hosts, God of Israel said; Because ye listened to the commandment of Jonadab your father and kept all his commandments and have done according unto all that he has commanded you:

¹⁹ therefore thus hath the LORD of the hosts, God of Israel said; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before me for ever.

36 ¶ And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

² Take thee a roll of a book and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the Gentiles, from the day I began to speak unto thee, from the days of Josiah, unto today.

³ If peradventure the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may turn each one from his evil way; and I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.

⁴ Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.

⁵ And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the LORD:

⁶ therefore go thou, and read from the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD’s house upon the day of fasting: and also in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities. Thou shalt read them

⁷ if peradventure their prayer will fall into the presence of the LORD, and they shall turn each one from his evil way; for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD has pronounced against this people.

⁸ And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the LORD’s house.

⁹ ¶ And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people of Jerusalem and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.

¹⁰ Then Baruch read in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORD’s house, in the ears of all the people.

¹¹ When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the LORD,

¹² then he went down into the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber; and, behold, all the princes sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.

¹³ Then Michaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.

¹⁴ Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand and came unto them.

¹⁵ And they said unto him, Sit down now and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.

¹⁶ Now it came to pass when they had heard all the words, each one turned to his companion in fear, and they said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.

¹⁷ And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth?

¹⁸ Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.

¹⁹ Then the princes said unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.

²⁰ ¶ And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe and told all the words in the ears of the king.

²¹ So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read in it in the ears of the king and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.

²² Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month, and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.

²³ And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.

²⁴ Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his slaves that heard all these words.

²⁵ Nevertheless when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah made intercession to the king that he not burn the roll; he would not hear them.

²⁶ But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but the LORD hid them.

²⁷ Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after the king burned the roll, the words which Baruch had written at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying:

²⁸ Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned.

²⁹ And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus hath the LORD said: Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land and shall cause to cease from there man and beast?

³⁰ Therefore thus hath the LORD said unto Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have no one to sit upon the throne of David; and his body shall be cast out in the day to the heat and in the night to the frost.

³¹ And I will visit upon him and upon his seed and upon his slaves, their iniquity; and I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the men of Judah all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they did not hearken.

³² Then Jeremiah took another roll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire, and there were added besides upon them many like words.

37 ¶ And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.

² But neither he nor his slaves nor the people of the land hearkened unto the words of the LORD, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.

³ And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the LORD our God for us.

⁴ (Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people: for they had not put him into prison.

⁵ And as Pharaoh’s army was come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.)

⁶ Then came the word of the LORD unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

⁷ Thus hath the LORD, the God of Israel said; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me: Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which had come forth to help you, has returned to Egypt into their own land.

⁸ And the Chaldeans shall come again and fight against this city and take it and burn it with fire.

⁹ Thus hath the LORD said; Do not deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans have surely departed from us; for they shall not depart.

¹⁰ For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up each man from his tent and burn this city with fire.

¹¹ ¶ And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army,

¹² then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin to separate himself there in the midst of the people.

¹³ And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans.

¹⁴ Then said Jeremiah It is false; I do not fall away to the Chaldeans. But he did not hearken to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.

¹⁵ Therefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah and smote him and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.

¹⁶ When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;

¹⁷ then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

¹⁸ Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, In what have I sinned against thee or against thy slaves or against this people that ye have put me in prison?

¹⁹ Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you nor against this land?

²⁰ Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.

²¹ Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the guard and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers’ street until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

38 ¶ Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,

² Thus hath the LORD said, He that remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, but he that goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey and shall live.

³ Thus hath the LORD said, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.

⁴ Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakens the hands of the men of war that remain in this city and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them; for this man does not seek the peace of this people, but the hurt.

⁵ Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand, for the king can not do any thing against you.

⁶ Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.

⁷ Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king was then sitting in the gate of Benjamin,

⁸ Ebedmelech went forth out of the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying,

⁹ My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is, for there is no more bread in the city.

¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from here thirty men with thee and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies.

¹¹ So Ebedmelech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury and took from there old cast clouts and old rotten rags and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.

¹² And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.

¹³ So they drew up Jeremiah with cords and took him up out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

¹⁴ ¶ Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a word; hide nothing from me.

¹⁵ Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken unto me.

¹⁶ So Zedekiah the king swore secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD lives, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.

¹⁷ Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus hath the LORD, the God of the hosts, the God of Israel said: If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:

¹⁸ but if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.

¹⁹ And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.

²⁰ But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Hear now the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.

²¹ But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the LORD hath showed me:

²² and, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say, Thy friends have deceived thee and have prevailed against thee; thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back.

²³ So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans; and thou shalt not escape out of their hand but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon; and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.

²⁴ Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die.

²⁵ But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee:

²⁶ then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there.

²⁷ Then all the princes came unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according to all those words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.

²⁸ So Jeremiah abode in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken; and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.