Holman Christian Standard Bible (230 page)

25
 “I have heard what the prophets who prophesy a lie in My name have said, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!'
26
 How long will this continue in the minds of the prophets prophesying lies, prophets of the deceit of their own minds?
27
 Through their dreams that they tell one another, they plan to cause My people to forget My name as their fathers forgot My name through Baal worship. 
28
 The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has My word should speak My word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain? ” — this is the
Lord
's declaration.
29
 “Is not My word like fire” — this is the
Lord
's declaration — “and like a hammer that pulverizes rock?
30
 Therefore, take note! I am against the prophets”  — the
Lord
's declaration — “who steal My words from each other.
31
 I am against the prophets” — the
Lord
's declaration — “who use their own tongues to make a declaration.
32
 I am against those who prophesy false dreams”  — the
Lord
's declaration — “telling them and leading My people astray with their falsehoods and their boasting. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people” — this is the
Lord
's declaration.

The Burden of the
Lord

33
 “Now when these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the
Lord
? ' you will respond to them: What is the burden? I will throw you away” — this is the
Lord
's declaration.
34
 “As for the prophet, priest, or people who say, ‘The burden of the
Lord
,' I will punish that man and his household.
35
 This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother, ‘What has the
Lord
answered?' or ‘What has the
Lord
spoken?'
36
 But no longer refer to the burden of the
Lord
, for each man's word becomes his burden and you pervert the words of the living God, the
Lord
of Hosts, our God.
37
 You must say to the prophet: What has the
Lord
answered you? and What has the
Lord
spoken?
38
 But if you say, ‘The burden of the
Lord
,' then this is what the
Lord
says: Because you have said, ‘The burden of the
Lord
,' and I specifically told you not to say, ‘The burden of the
Lord
,'
39
 I will surely forget you and throw away from My presence both you and the city that I gave you and your fathers.
40
 I will bring on you everlasting shame and humiliation that will never be forgotten.”

Jeremiah

The Good and the Bad Figs

24
After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had deported Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, the officials of Judah, and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the
Lord
showed me two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the
Lord
.
2
 One basket contained very good figs, like early figs, but the other basket contained very bad figs, so bad they were inedible.
3
 The
Lord
said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah? ” I said, “Figs! The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are extremely bad, so bad they are inedible.”

4
 The word of the
Lord
came to me:
5
 “This is what the
Lord
, the God of Israel, says: Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah I sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.
6
 I will keep My eyes on them for their good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not demolish them; I will plant them and not uproot them. 
7
 I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am
•Yahweh
. They will be My people, and I will be their God because they will return to Me with all their heart. 

8
 “But as for the bad figs, so bad they are inedible, this is what the
Lord
says: in this way I will deal with king Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem — those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt. 
9
 I will make them an object of horror and disaster to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace, an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing, wherever I have banished them.
10
 I will send the sword, famine, and plague against them until they have perished from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.”

Jeremiah

The Seventy-Year Exile

25
This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon).
2
 The prophet Jeremiah spoke concerning all the people of Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem as follows:
3
 “From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, until this very day — 23 years — the word of the
Lord
has come to me, and I have spoken to you time and time again, but you have not obeyed.
4
 The
Lord
sent all His servants the prophets to you time and time again, but you have not obeyed or even paid attention.
5
 He announced, ‘Turn, each of you, from your evil way of life and from your evil deeds. Live in the land the
Lord
gave to you and your ancestors long ago and forever.
6
 Do not follow other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger by the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.

7
 “ ‘But you would not obey Me' — this is the
Lord
's declaration — ‘in order that you might provoke Me to anger by the work of your hands and bring disaster on yourselves.'

8
 “Therefore, this is what the
Lord
of
•Hosts
says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words,
9
 I am going to send for all the families of the north'  — this is the
Lord
's declaration — ‘and send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land, against its residents, and against all these surrounding nations, and I will
•completely
destroy them and make them a desolation, a derision, and ruins forever.
10
 I will eliminate the sound of joy and gladness from them — the voice of the groom and the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.
11
 This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. 
12
 When the 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation' — this is the
Lord
's declaration — ‘the land of the Chaldeans, for their
•guilt
, and I will make it a ruin forever. 
13
 I will bring on that land all My words I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book that Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations.
14
 For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.' ”

The Cup of God's Wrath

15
 This is what the
Lord
, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and make all the nations I am sending you to, drink from it. 
16
 They will drink, stagger, and go out of their minds because of the sword I am sending among them.”

17
 So I took the cup from the
Lord
's hand and made all the nations drink from it, everyone the
Lord
sent me to.
18
 These included:

27
 “Then you are to say to them: This is what the
Lord
of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, as a result of the sword I am sending among you.
28
 If they refuse to take the cup from you and drink, you are to say to them: This is what the
Lord
of Hosts says: You must drink!
29
 For I am already bringing disaster on the city that bears My name, so how could you possibly go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth” — this is the declaration of the
Lord
of Hosts. 

Judgment on the Whole World

30
 “As for you, you are to prophesy all these things to them, and say to them:

32
 “This is what the
Lord
of Hosts says:

33
 Those slain by the
Lord
 on that day will be spread from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, gathered, or buried. They will be like manure on the surface of the ground.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah's Speech in the Temple

26
At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the
Lord
:
2
 “This is what the
Lord
says: Stand in the courtyard of the
Lord
's temple and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all Judah's cities that are coming to worship there. Do not hold back a word. 
3
 Perhaps they will listen and return — each from his evil way of life — so that I might relent concerning the disaster that I plan to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.
4
 You are to say to them: This is what the
Lord
says: If you do not listen to Me by living according to My instruction that I set before you 
5
 and by listening to the words of My servants the prophets I have been sending you time and time again, though you did not listen,
6
 I will make this temple like Shiloh. I will make this city an object of cursing for all the nations of the earth.”

Jeremiah Seized

7
 The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the temple of the
Lord
.
8
 He finished the address the
Lord
had commanded him to deliver to all the people. Then the priests, the prophets, and all the people took hold of him, yelling, “You must surely die!
9
 How dare you prophesy in the name of
•Yahweh
, ‘This temple will become like Shiloh and this city will become an uninhabited ruin'! ” Then all the people assembled against Jeremiah at the
Lord
's temple.

10
 When the officials of Judah heard these things, they went from the king's palace to the
Lord
's temple and sat at the entrance of the New Gate.
11
 Then the priests and prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man deserves the death sentence because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”