Jeremiah 26
26
Jeremiah’s Escape from Death
1This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah,#26:1 The first year of Jehoiakim’s reign was 608 b.c. king of Judah. 2“This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard in front of the Temple of the Lord, and make an announcement to the people who have come there to worship from all over Judah. Give them my entire message; include every word. 3Perhaps they will listen and turn from their evil ways. Then I will change my mind about the disaster I am ready to pour out on them because of their sins.
4“Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: If you will not listen to me and obey my word I have given you, 5and if you will not listen to my servants, the prophets—for I sent them again and again to warn you, but you would not listen to them— 6then I will destroy this Temple as I destroyed Shiloh, the place where the Tabernacle was located. And I will make Jerusalem an object of cursing in every nation on earth.’”
7The priests, the prophets, and all the people listened to Jeremiah as he spoke in front of the Lord’s Temple. 8But when Jeremiah had finished his message, saying everything the Lord had told him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people at the Temple mobbed him. “Kill him!” they shouted. 9“What right do you have to prophesy in the Lord’s name that this Temple will be destroyed like Shiloh? What do you mean, saying that Jerusalem will be destroyed and left with no inhabitants?” And all the people threatened him as he stood in front of the Temple.
10When the officials of Judah heard what was happening, they rushed over from the palace and sat down at the New Gate of the Temple to hold court. 11The priests and prophets presented their accusations to the officials and the people. “This man should die!” they said. “You have heard with your own ears what a traitor he is, for he has prophesied against this city.”
12Then Jeremiah spoke to the officials and the people in his own defense. “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this Temple and this city,” he said. “The Lord gave me every word that I have spoken. 13But if you stop your sinning and begin to obey the Lord your God, he will change his mind about this disaster that he has announced against you. 14As for me, I am in your hands—do with me as you think best. 15But if you kill me, rest assured that you will be killing an innocent man! The responsibility for such a deed will lie on you, on this city, and on every person living in it. For it is absolutely true that the Lord sent me to speak every word you have heard.”
16Then the officials and the people said to the priests and prophets, “This man does not deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”
17Then some of the wise old men stood and spoke to all the people assembled there. 18They said, “Remember when Micah of Moresheth prophesied during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah. He told the people of Judah,
‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field;
Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins!
A thicket will grow on the heights
where the Temple now stands.’#26:18 Mic 3:12.
19But did King Hezekiah and the people kill him for saying this? No, they turned from their sins and worshiped the Lord. They begged him for mercy. Then the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had pronounced against them. So we are about to do ourselves great harm.”
20At this time Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim was also prophesying for the Lord. And he predicted the same terrible disaster against the city and nation as Jeremiah did. 21When King Jehoiakim and the army officers and officials heard what he was saying, the king sent someone to kill him. But Uriah heard about the plan and escaped in fear to Egypt. 22Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Acbor to Egypt along with several other men to capture Uriah. 23They took him prisoner and brought him back to King Jehoiakim. The king then killed Uriah with a sword and had him buried in an unmarked grave.
24Nevertheless, Ahikam son of Shaphan stood up for Jeremiah and persuaded the court not to turn him over to the mob to be killed.
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Jeremiah 26: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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Jeremiah 26
26
1This message came from the Lord at the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah king of Judah, 2This is what the Lord says: Go and stand in the Temple courtyard and deliver the whole message I have ordered you to give to everyone who comes from all the towns of Judah to worship there. Don't leave out a single word. 3Maybe they will listen, and each of them will give up their evil ways so that I won't have to carry out the disaster I'm planning to bring down on them because of the evil things they do.
4Tell them that this is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have given you, 5and if you don't listen to the messages of my servants the prophets—I've sent them to you time and again, but you refused to listen— 6then I will destroy this Temple like I did Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse word used by everyone on earth.
7The priests and prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah deliver this message in the Lord's Temple. 8As soon as he had finished telling everyone all that the Lord had ordered him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people grabbed him, shouting, “You'll die for this! 9How dare you claim to speak in the Lord's name here in the Temple and declare that it will be destroyed like Shiloh, and that this city will be left empty and abandoned?” Everyone crowded around Jeremiah threatening him in the Lord's Temple.
10When the leaders of Judah heard what happened they came from the king's palace to the Lord's Temple and sat at the entrance of the New Gate of the Temple to judge the case.
11The priests and prophets complained to the leaders and all the people, “This man deserves the death penalty because he has committed treason#26:11. “Committed treason”: supplied for clarity. by prophesying against this city. You heard it yourselves!”
12Jeremiah addressed all the leaders and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to deliver every word of this prophecy against this Temple as you've heard. 13So change your ways and do what's right, and do what Lord your God tells you, so that he won't have to carry out the disaster he has announced he will bring down on you. 14As far as I'm concerned, I'm in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right. 15But be careful, because you need to be aware that if you kill me, you will make yourselves, this city, and everyone who lives here guilty of murder, because it's true that the Lord sent me to tell you everything he said.”
16Then the leaders and all the people told the priests and prophets, “This man doesn't deserve the death penalty because he was speaking on behalf of the Lord our God.”
17Some of the country's elders stood up and addressed everyone gathered there. 18“Micah of Moresheth prophesied during the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah. He told all the people of Judah that this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Zion will become like a plowed field; Jerusalem will end up a pile of rubble; and the Temple mount will be overgrown with trees.’#26:18. See Micah 3:12.
19Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in the country have him killed? Didn't Hezekiah respect the Lord and plead with him? Didn't the Lord change his mind about the disaster he had announced against them? But we are about to bring a great disaster on ourselves!”
20At around that time there was another man prophesying in the name of the Lord, Uriah, son of Shemaiah, from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against Jerusalem and against the country just as Jeremiah did. 21King Jehoiakim and all his military officers and officials heard what he was saying, and the king wanted to have him executed. But when Uriah found out about it, he was frightened and ran away to Egypt.
22But King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan, son of Achbor, along with some others. 23They brought Uriah back from Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim. The king killed him with a sword and had his body thrown into the public graveyard. 24However, Ahikam, son of Shaphan, took Jeremiah's side so he was not handed over to the people to be killed.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com