Jeremiah 26
26
Jeremiah Escapes Death
1At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came from Yahweh, saying,#Literally “to say” 2“Thus says Yahweh: ‘Stand in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and you must speak to all the cities of Judah that come to bow in worship in the house of Yahweh all the words that I command you to speak to them. You must not omit a word. 3Perhaps they will listen and turn back each from his evil way, and I will relent of the disaster that I am planning to do to them because of their evil deeds. 4And you shall say to them, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set#Or “given” before you,#Literally “to the face of you” 5to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I have sent to you, over and over again,#Literally “and doing early and sending” though you have not listened, 6then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse for all the nations of the earth.’ ” ’ ”
7And the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the temple of Yahweh. 8And then#Literally “And it happened” as Jeremiah finished speaking all that Yahweh had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying,#Literally “to say” “You will die! 9Why have you prophesied in the name of Yahweh, saying,#Literally “to say” ‘This house will be like Shiloh, and this city will be in ruins, without#Literally “from there is not” inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the temple of Yahweh.
10When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the house of the king to the temple of Yahweh, and they sat in the entrance of the New Gate of Yahweh’s temple. 11Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, saying,#Literally “to say” “This man deserves the death sentence,#Literally “A sentence of death is to this man” because he has prophesied against this city as that which you have heard with your ears.”
12Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and to all the people, saying,#Literally “to say” “Yahweh sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. 13Now therefore#Literally “so then” amend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of Yahweh your God, and Yahweh will relent of the disaster that he has spoken over you. 14But as for me, look, I am in your hand, do to me what is good and right in your eyes. 15Only you must certainly know that if you put me to death, you will bring on yourselves innocent blood, and on this city and on its inhabitants, for truly#Literally “in truth” Yahweh sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”
16Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets, “This man does not deserve#Literally “Not to this man” a sentence of death, for in the name of Yahweh our God, he has spoken to us.” 17Then men from the elders of the land arose and said to all the assembly of the people, saying,#Literally “to say” 18“Micah the Morashtite was prophesying in the days of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and he said to all the people of Judah, saying:#Literally “to say”
‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“Zion will be plowed,
and Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the temple#Literally “house” as high places of wood.” ’
19Did Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and all Judah actually put him to death? Was he not in fear of Yahweh? And he entreated the face of Yahweh, and Yahweh relented of the disaster that he had spoken against them. But we are about to do great disaster to ourselves.”
20Indeed, there also was a man prophesying in the name of Yahweh, Uriah, the son of Shemaiah, from Kiriath-Jearim, and he prophesied against this city and against this land like all the words of Jeremiah. 21And when King Jehoiakim, and all his warriors, and all the officials heard his words, then the king sought to put him to death. But Uriah heard, and he was afraid, and he fled and went to Egypt. 22Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt. Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and men with him went to Egypt. 23And they brought out Uriah from Egypt and they brought him to King Jehoiakim, and he struck him down with the sword, and he threw his dead body into the burial sites of the sons of the people. 24However, the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was not given into the hand of the people to put him to death.
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Jeremiah 26
26
Jeremiah's message in the temple
(Jeremiah 7.1-15)
1Soon after Jehoiakim#26.1 Jehoiakim: See the note at 1.3. became king of Judah, the LORD said:#2 K 23.36—24.6; 2 Ch 36.5-7.
2Jeremiah, I have a message for everyone who comes from the towns of Judah to worship in my temple. Go to the temple courtyard and speak every word that I tell you. 3Perhaps the people will listen this time. And if they stop doing wrong, I will change my mind and not punish them for their sins. 4Tell them that I have said:
You have refused to listen to me and to obey my laws and teachings. 5Again and again I have sent my servants the prophets to preach to you, but you ignored them as well. Now I am warning you that if you don't start obeying me straight away, 6I will destroy this temple, just as I destroyed the town of Shiloh.#26.6 Shiloh: The sacred tent had once stood at Shiloh. Then everyone on earth will use the name “Jerusalem” as a curse word.#Js 18.1; Ps 78.60; Jr 7.12-14.
Jeremiah on trial
7The prophets, the priests, and everyone else in the temple heard what I said, 8-9and as soon as I finished, they all crowded around me and started shouting, “Why did you preach that the LORD will destroy this temple, just as he destroyed Shiloh? Why did you say that Jerusalem will be empty and lie in ruins? You ought to be put to death for saying such things in the LORD's name!” Then they had me arrested.
10The royal officers heard what had happened, and they came from the palace to the new gate of the temple to be the judges at my trial.#26.10 new gate…trial: Public trials were often held in an open area at a gate of a city, palace, or temple. 11While they listened, the priests and the prophets said to the crowd, “All of you have heard Jeremiah prophesy that Jerusalem will be destroyed. He deserves the death penalty.”
12-13Then I told the judges and everyone else:
The LORD himself sent me to tell you about the terrible things he will do to you, to Jerusalem, and to the temple. But if you change your ways and start obeying the LORD, he will change his mind.
14You must decide what to do with me. Just do whatever you think is right. 15But if you put me to death, you and everyone else in Jerusalem will be guilty of murdering an innocent man, because everything I preached came from the LORD.
16The judges and the other people told the priests and prophets, “Since Jeremiah only told us what the LORD our God had said, we don't think he deserves to die.”
17Then some of the leaders from other towns stepped forward. They told the crowd that 18years ago when Hezekiah#26.18 Hezekiah: Ruled 716-687 BC. was king of Judah, a prophet named Micah from the town of Moresheth had said:#Mic 3.12.
“I, the LORD All-Powerful, say
Jerusalem will be ploughed under
and left in ruins.
Thorns will cover the mountain
where the temple
now stands.”#26.18 Jerusalem…stands: See Micah 3.12.
19Then the leaders continued:
No one put Micah to death for saying that. Instead, King Hezekiah prayed to the LORD with fear and trembling and asked him to have mercy. Then the LORD decided not to destroy Jerusalem, even though he had already said he would.
People of Judah, if Jeremiah is killed, we will bring a terrible disaster on ourselves.
20-24After these leaders finished speaking, an important man named Ahikam son of Shaphan spoke up for me as well. And so, I wasn't handed over to the crowd to be killed.
Uriah the prophet
While Jehoiakim#26.20-24 Jehoiakim: See the note at 1.3. was still king of Judah, a man named Uriah son of Shemaiah left his home town of Kiriath-Jearim and came to Jerusalem. Uriah was one of the LORD's prophets, and he was saying the same things about Judah and Jerusalem that I had been saying. And when Jehoiakim and his officials and military officers heard what Uriah said, they tried to arrest him, but he escaped to Egypt. So Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Achbor and some other men after Uriah, and they brought him back. Then Jehoiakim had Uriah killed and his body dumped in a common burial pit.
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