Jeremiah 26
26
Jeremiah is Brought to Trial
1 #
2 Kgs 23.36—24.6; 2 Chr 36.5–7 Soon after Jehoiakim son of Josiah became king of Judah, 2the LORD said to me, “Stand in the court of the Temple and proclaim all I have commanded you to say to the people who come from the towns of Judah to worship there. Do not leave out anything. 3Perhaps the people will listen and give up their evil ways. If they do, then I will change my mind about the destruction I plan to bring on them for all their wicked deeds.”
4The LORD told me to say to the people, “I, the LORD, have said that you must obey me by following the teaching that I gave you, 5and by paying attention to the words of my servants, the prophets, whom I have kept on sending to you. You have never obeyed what they said. 6#Josh 18.1; Ps 78.60; Jer 7.12–14If you continue to disobey, then I will do to this Temple what I did to Shiloh,#26.6 Shiloh: See 7.12. and all the nations of the world will use the name of this city as a curse.”
7The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard me saying these things in the Temple, 8and as soon as I had finished all that the LORD had commanded me to speak, they seized me and shouted, “You ought to be killed for this! 9Why have you said in the LORD's name that this Temple will become like Shiloh and that this city will be destroyed and no one will live in it?” Then the people crowded round me.
10When the leaders of Judah heard what had happened, they hurried from the royal palace to the Temple and took their places at the New Gate. 11Then the priests and the prophets said to the leaders and to the people, “This man deserves to be sentenced to death because he has spoken against our city. You heard him with your own ears.”
12Then I said, “The LORD sent me to proclaim everything that you heard me say against this Temple and against this city. 13You must change the way you are living and the things you are doing, and must obey the LORD your God. If you do, he will change his mind about the destruction that he said he would bring on you. 14As for me, I am in your power! Do with me whatever you think is fair and right. 15But be sure of this: if you kill me, you and the people of this city will be guilty of killing an innocent man, because it is the LORD who sent me to give you this warning.”
16Then the leaders and the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man spoke to us in the name of the LORD our God; he should not be put to death.”
17After that, some of the elders stood up and said to the people who had assembled, 18#Mic 3.12“When Hezekiah was king of Judah, the prophet Micah of Moresheth told all the people that the LORD Almighty had said,
‘Zion will be ploughed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a pile of ruins,
and the Temple hill will become a forest.’
19King Hezekiah and the people of Judah did not put Micah to death. Instead, Hezekiah honoured the LORD and tried to win his favour. And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he said he would bring on them. Now we are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves.”
20(There was another man, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim, who spoke in the name of the LORD against this city and nation just as Jeremiah did. 21When King Jehoiakim and his soldiers and officials heard what Uriah had said, the king tried to have him killed. But Uriah heard about it; so he fled in terror and escaped to Egypt. 22King Jehoiakim, however, sent Elnathan son of Achbor and some other men to Egypt to get Uriah. 23They brought him back to King Jehoiakim, who had him killed and his body thrown into the public burial ground.)
24But because I had the support of Ahikam son of Shaphan, I was not handed over to the people and killed.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 26
26
1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying:
2 "Thus says the Lord: Stand in the atrium of the house of the Lord, and speak to all the cities of Judah, from which they come to adore in the house of the Lord, all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not choose to subtract any word.
3 So may they hear and be converted, each one from his evil way. And then I may repent of the evil that I plan to do to them because of the wickedness of their pursuits.
4 And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: If you will not listen to me, so that you walk in my law, which I have given to you,
5 so that you listen to the words of my servants, the prophets, whom I have sent to you, who arise while it is still night, and though they give guidance, you do not listen,
6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city into a curse for 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 the Lord.
8 And when Jeremiah had completed speaking all that the Lord had instructed him to speak to all the people, then the priests, and the prophets, and all the people apprehended him, saying: "You shall be put to death."
9 "Why has he prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying: 'Like Shiloh, so shall this house be,' and, 'This city shall be made desolate, even without an inhabitant?' " And all the people were gathered together against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.
10 And the leaders of Judah heard these words. And they ascended from the house of the king to the house of the Lord, and they sat at the entrance by the new gate of the house of the Lord.
11 And the priests and the prophets spoke to the leaders and to all the people, saying: "A judgment of death is for this man. For he has prophesied against this city, just as you have heard with your own ears."
12 And Jeremiah spoke to all the leaders and to the entire people, saying: "The Lord has sent me to prophesy, about this house and about this city, all the words that you have heard.
13 Now, therefore, make your ways and your intentions good, and heed the voice of the Lord your God. And then the Lord will repent of the evil that he has spoken against you.
14 But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do to me what is good and right in your eyes.
15 Yet truly, know and understand this: if you kill me, you will be bringing innocent blood against yourselves, and against this city and its inhabitants. For in truth, the Lord sent me to you, so as to speak all these words in your hearing."
16 And then the leaders and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets: "There is no judgment of death against this man. For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God."
17 Then some of the elders of the land rose up. And they spoke to the entire assembly of the people, saying:
18 "Micah from Moresheth was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying: 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: Zion will be ploughed like a field. And Jerusalem will be a pile of stones. And the mountain of the house will be like the forests of high places.'
19 Did the king of Judah, Hezekiah, with all of Judah, condemn him to death? Did they not fear the Lord, and petition the face of the Lord? And so the Lord repented of the evil that he had spoken against them. Therefore, we are committing a great evil against our own souls.
20 Likewise, there was a man prophesying in the name of the Lord: Uriah, the son of Shemaiah, of Kiriath-jearim. And he prophesied against this city and against this land, in accord with all the words of Jeremiah.
21 And king Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and leaders, heard these words. And so the king sought to put him to death. And Uriah heard, and was afraid, and fled, and he entered into Egypt.
22 And king Jehoiakim sent men into Egypt: Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and the men who went with him into Egypt.
23 And they led Uriah out of Egypt. And they brought him to king Jehoiakim, and he struck him down with the sword. And he cast his dead body among the graves of the common people."
24 But the hand of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, was with Jeremiah, so that he would not be delivered into the hands of the people, and so that they would not put him to death.
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