JEREMIAH 22-23

¹ This is what Jehovah says: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and deliver this message.

² You must say, ‘Hear the word of Jehovah, O king of Judah who sits on the throne of David, you with your servants and your people, those who enter through these gates.

³ This is what Jehovah says: “Uphold justice and righteousness. Rescue the one being robbed from the hand of the defrauder. Do not mistreat any foreign resident, and do not harm any fatherless child or widow. And do not shed any innocent blood in this place.

⁴ For if you are careful to carry out this word, then the kings who sit on the throne of David will enter through the gates of this house, riding in chariots and on horses, they with their servants and their people.”’

⁵ “‘But if you will not obey these words, by myself I do swear,’ declares Jehovah, ‘that this house will become a devastated place.’

⁶ Not one of your cities will be inhabited.

⁷ And make them fall into the fire.

⁸ “‘And many nations will pass by this city and say to one another: “Why did Jehovah do this to this great city?”

⁹ And they will reply: “Because they abandoned the covenant of Jehovah their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.”’

¹⁰ For he will return no more to see the land of his birth.

¹¹ “For this is what Jehovah says concerning Shalʹlum son of Jo·siʹah, the king of Judah who is reigning instead of his father Jo·siʹah and who has gone out of this place: ‘He will return there no more.

¹² For he will die in the place where they have taken him into exile, and he will see this land no more.’

¹³ Whose wages he refuses to pay;

¹⁴ And panel it with cedar and paint it with vermilion.’

¹⁵ And it went well with him.

¹⁶ ‘Is that not what it means to know me?’ declares Jehovah.

¹⁷ And on committing fraud and extortion.’

¹⁸ “Alas, O master! Alas, his majesty!”

¹⁹ Outside the gates of Jerusalem.’

²⁰ For all your passionate lovers have been crushed.

²¹ For you have not obeyed my voice.

²² Then you will be put to shame and humiliated because of all your calamity.

²³ Anguish like that of a woman giving birth!”

²⁴ “‘As surely as I am alive,’ declares Jehovah, ‘even if Co·niʹah son of Je·hoiʹa·kim, the king of Judah, were the seal ring on my right hand, I would pull you off from there!

²⁵ I will give you into the hand of those seeking to take your life, into the hand of those whom you fear, into the hand of King Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chal·deʹans.

²⁶ And I will hurl you and your mother who gave birth to you into another land where you were not born, and there you will die.

²⁷ And they will never return to the land they yearn for.

²⁸ And thrown into a land they do not know?’

²⁹ O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of Jehovah.

³⁰ In sitting on David’s throne and ruling again in Judah.’”

¹ “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares Jehovah.

² “So I will turn my attention to you because of your evil deeds,” declares Jehovah.

³ “Then I will gather together the remnant of my sheep from all the lands to which I have dispersed them, and I will bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and become many.

⁴ And I will raise up over them shepherds who will really shepherd them. They will no longer be afraid or be terrified, and none will be missing,” declares Jehovah.

⁵ “Look! The days are coming,” declares Jehovah, “when I will raise up to David a righteous sprout. And a king will reign and show insight and uphold justice and righteousness in the land.

⁶ In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will reside in security. And this is the name by which he will be called: Jehovah Is Our Righteousness.”

⁷ “However, the days are coming,” declares Jehovah, “when they will no longer say, ‘As surely as Jehovah is alive, who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt!’

⁸ but rather, ‘As surely as Jehovah is alive, who brought out and brought back the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands to which I had dispersed them,’ and they will dwell in their own land.”

⁹ Because of Jehovah and because of his holy words.

¹⁰ Their course is evil, and they abuse their power.

¹¹ Even in my own house I have found their wickedness,” declares Jehovah.

¹² In the year of reckoning,” declares Jehovah.

¹³ And they lead my people Israel astray.

¹⁴ And her inhabitants are like Go·morʹrah.”

¹⁵ For from the prophets of Jerusalem apostasy has spread throughout the land.”

¹⁶ Not from the mouth of Jehovah.

¹⁷ ‘No calamity will come upon you.’

¹⁸ Who has paid attention to his word in order to hear it?

¹⁹ Like a whirling tempest it will whirl down on the head of the wicked.

²⁰ In the final part of the days you will clearly understand this.

²¹ I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.

²² And would have caused them to turn back from their bad way and their evil deeds.”

²³ “Am I only a God nearby,” declares Jehovah, “and not a God also from far away?”

²⁴ “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares Jehovah.

²⁵ “I have heard the prophets who are prophesying lies in my name say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’

²⁶ How long will this continue in the heart of the prophets, to prophesy lies? They are prophets of the deceit of their own heart.

²⁷ They intend to make my people forget my name by the dreams they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot my name because of Baʹal.

²⁸ “What does the straw have in common with the grain?” declares Jehovah.

²⁹ “Is not my word just like a fire,” declares Jehovah, “and like a forge hammer that smashes the crag?”

³⁰ “So here I am against the prophets,” declares Jehovah, “who steal my words from one another.”

³¹ “Here I am against the prophets,” declares Jehovah, “those who use their tongue to say, ‘He declares!’”

³² “But I did not send them or command them. So they will not benefit this people at all,” declares Jehovah.

³³ “And when this people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of Jehovah?’ you should reply to them, ‘“You people are the burden! And I will cast you off,” declares Jehovah.’

³⁴ As for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘This is the burden of Jehovah!’ I will turn my attention on that man and on his household.

³⁵ This is what each of you is saying to his fellow and to his brother, ‘What has Jehovah answered? And what has Jehovah spoken?’

³⁶ But the burden of Jehovah you should mention no more, for the burden is each one’s own word, and you have changed the words of the living God, Jehovah of armies, our God.

³⁷ “This is what you will say to the prophet, ‘What answer has Jehovah given you? And what has Jehovah spoken?

³⁸ And if you keep saying, “The burden of Jehovah!” this is what Jehovah says: “Because of your saying, ‘This word is the burden of Jehovah,’ after I told you, ‘You must not say: “The burden of Jehovah!”’

³⁹ look! I will lift you up and throw you away from my presence, both you and the city that I gave to you and your forefathers.

⁴⁰ And I will bring on you everlasting disgrace and everlasting humiliation, which will not be forgotten.”’”