World English Bible

1 That same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in Yahweh’s house, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,

2 “Thus speaks Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, saying, ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

3 Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of Yahweh’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried to Babylon.

4 I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, who went to Babylon,’ says Yahweh; ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

5 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people who stood in Yahweh’s house,

6 even the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May Yahweh do so. May Yahweh perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of Yahweh’s house, and all them of the captivity, from Babylon to this place.

7 Nevertheless listen now to this word that I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people:

8 The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.

9 The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet shall happen, then shall the prophet be known, that Yahweh has truly sent him.”

10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the bar from off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, and broke it.

11 Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Yahweh says: ‘Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of all the nations.’” Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

12 Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

13 “Go, and tell Hananiah, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “You have broken the bars of wood, but you have made in their place bars of iron.”

14 For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says, “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they will serve him. I have also given him the animals of the field.”’”

15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! Yahweh has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie.

16 Therefore Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will send you away from off the surface of the earth. This year you will die, because you have spoken rebellion against Yahweh.’”

17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/28-0e12a41bfb6f2669773f4248b94499d4.mp3?version_id=206—

1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon,

2 (after that Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths, had departed from Jerusalem),

3 by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), saying,

4 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon:

5 “Build houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat their fruit.

6 Take wives, and father sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and don’t be diminished.

7 Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you shall have peace.”

8 For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.

9 For they prophesy falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them,” says Yahweh.

10 For Yahweh says, “After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.

12 You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13 You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.

14 I will be found by you,” says Yahweh, “and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Yahweh; and I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.”

15 Because you have said, “Yahweh has raised us up prophets in Babylon;”

16 Yahweh says concerning the king who sits on David’s throne, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who haven’t gone with you into captivity;

17 Yahweh of Armies says: “Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can’t be eaten, they are so bad.

18 I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I have driven them;

19 because they have not listened to my words,” says Yahweh, “with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear,” says Yahweh.

20 Hear therefore Yahweh’s word, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

21 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: “Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall kill them before your eyes.

22 A curse shall be taken up about them by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;’

23 because they have done foolish things in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didn’t command them. I am he who knows, and am witness,” says Yahweh.

24 Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying,

25 “Thus speaks Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

26 “Yahweh has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in Yahweh’s house, for every man who is mad, and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles.

27 Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you,

28 because he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, The captivity is long: build houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat their fruit?”’”

29 Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.

30 Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying,

31 “Send to all them of the captivity, saying, ‘Yahweh says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn’t send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie;”

32 therefore Yahweh says, “Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his offspring.He shall not have a man to dwell among this people, neither shall he see the good that I will do to my people,” says Yahweh, “because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.”’”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/29-b00091f205a1fa50d55fc25518733456.mp3?version_id=206—

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,

2 “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book.

3 For, behold, the days come,’ says Yahweh, ‘that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’”

4 These are the words that Yahweh spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

5 For Yahweh says:

“We have heard a voice of trembling,

of fear, and not of peace.

6 Ask now, and see whether a man travails with child.

Why do I see every man with his hands on his waist, as a woman in travail,

and all faces are turned pale?

7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it.

It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;

but he shall be saved out of it.

8 It shall come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Armies, that I will break his yoke from off your neck,

and will burst your bonds;

and strangers shall no more make them their bondservants;

9 but they will serve Yahweh their God,

and David their king,

whom I will raise up to them.

10 Therefore don’t you be afraid, O Jacob my servant, says Yahweh;

neither be dismayed, Israel:

for, behold, I will save you from afar,

and your offspringfrom the land of their captivity.

Jacob shall return,

and shall be quiet and at ease,

and no one shall make him afraid.

11 For I am with you, says Yahweh, to save you;

for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you,

but I will not make a full end of you;

but I will correct you in measure,

and will in no way leave you unpunished.”

12 For Yahweh says,

“Your hurt is incurable,

and your wound grievous.

13 There is no one to plead your cause,

that you may be bound up.

You have no healing medicines.

14 All your lovers have forgotten you.

They don’t seek you:

for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy,

with the chastisement of a cruel one,

for the greatness of your iniquity,

because your sins were increased.

15 Why do you cry for your hurt?

Your pain is incurable:

for the greatness of your iniquity,

because your sins were increased,

I have done these things to you.

16 Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured;

and all your adversaries, everyone of them, shall go into captivity;

and those who plunder you shall be plunder,

and all who prey on you will I give for a prey.

17 For I will restore health to you,

and I will heal you of your wounds,” says Yahweh;

“because they have called you an outcast,

saying, ‘It is Zion, whom no man seeks after.’”

18 Yahweh says:

“Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Jacob’s tents,

and have compassion on his dwelling places.

The city shall be built on its own hill,

and the palace shall be inhabited in its own place.

19 Out of them shall proceed thanksgiving

and the voice of those who make merry.

I will multiply them,

and they shall not be few;

I will also glorify them,

and they will not be small.

20 Their children also shall be as before,

and their congregation shall be established before me.

I will punish all who oppress them.

21 Their prince shall be of themselves,

and their ruler shall proceed from among them.

I will cause him to draw near,

and he shall approach to me;

for who is he who has had boldness to approach to me?” says Yahweh.

22 “You shall be my people,

and I will be your God.

23 Behold, Yahweh’s storm, his wrath, has gone out,

a sweeping storm:

it shall burst on the head of the wicked.

24 The fierce anger of Yahweh will not return, until he has executed,

and until he has performed the intentions of his heart.

In the latter days you will understand it.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/30-68873d117e29d114b12fe12cb5acae6b.mp3?version_id=206—

1 “At that time,” says Yahweh, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

2 Yahweh says, “The people who survive the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.”

3 Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying,

“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love.

Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.

4 I will build you again,

and you will be built, O virgin of Israel.

You will again be adorned with your tambourines,

and will go out in the dances of those who make merry.

5 Again you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria.

The planters will plant,

and will enjoy its fruit.

6 For there will be a day that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry,

‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.’”

7 For Yahweh says,

“Sing with gladness for Jacob,

and shout for the chief of the nations.

Publish, praise, and say,

‘Yahweh, save your people,

the remnant of Israel!’

8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country,

and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth,

along with the blind and the lame,

the woman with child and her who travails with child together.

They will return as a great company.

9 They shall come with weeping;

and with petitions will I lead them:

I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters,

in a straight way in which they shall not stumble;

for I am a father to Israel,

and Ephraim is my firstborn.

10 “Hear Yahweh’s word, you nations,

and declare it in the islands afar off; and say,

‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,

and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.’

11 For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob,

and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.

12 They shall come and sing in the height of Zion,

and shall flow to the goodness of Yahweh,

to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil,

and to the young of the flock and of the herd:

and their soul shall be as a watered garden;

and they shall not sorrow any more at all.

13 Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,

and the young men and the old together;

for I will turn their mourning into joy,

and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.

14 I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness,

and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,” says Yahweh.

15 Yahweh says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,

lamentation, and bitter weeping,

Rachel weeping for her children;

she refuses to be comforted for her children,

because they are no more.”

16 Yahweh says:

“Refrain your voice from weeping,

and your eyes from tears;

for your work shall be rewarded,” says Yahweh;

“and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.

17 There is hope for your latter end,” says Yahweh;

“and your children shall come again to their own border.

18 “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus,

‘You have chastised me,

and I was chastised, as an untrained calf:

turn me, and I shall be turned;

for you are Yahweh my God.

19 Surely after that I was turned,

I repented;

and after that I was instructed,

I struck on my thigh:

I was ashamed, yes, even confounded,

because I bore the reproach of my youth.’

20 Is Ephraim my dear son?

is he a darling child?

for as often as I speak against him,

I do earnestly remember him still:

therefore my heart yearns for him;

I will surely have mercy on him,” says Yahweh.

21 “Set up road signs,

make guideposts;

set your heart toward the highway,

even the way by which you went:

turn again, virgin of Israel,

turn again to these your cities.

22 How long will you go here and there,

you backsliding daughter?

for Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth:

a woman shall encompass a man.”

23 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall bring again their captivity: ‘Yahweh bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.’

24 Judah and all its cities shall dwell therein together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks.

25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul I have replenished.”

26 On this I awakened, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.

27 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of animal.

28 It shall happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant,” says Yahweh.

29 “In those days they shall say no more,

“‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,

and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

30 But everyone shall die for his own iniquity: every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

31 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh,

“that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel,

and with the house of Judah:

32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt;

which my covenant they broke,

although I was a husband to them,” says Yahweh.

33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,”

says Yahweh:

I will put my law in their inward parts,

and in their heart will I write it;

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people:

34 and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor,

and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh;’

for they shall all know me,

from their least to their greatest,” says Yahweh:

“for I will forgive their iniquity,

and their sin will I remember no more.”

35 Yahweh, who gives the sun for a light by day,

and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night,

who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar;

Yahweh of Armies is his name, says:

36 “If these ordinances depart from before me,” says Yahweh,

“then the offspringof Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.”

37 Yahweh says: “If heaven above can be measured,

and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,

then I will also cast off all the offspringof Israel for all that they have done,” says Yahweh.

38 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the city shall be built to Yahweh from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner.

39 The measuring line shall go out further straight onward to the hill Gareb, and shall turn about to Goah.

40 The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy to Yahweh; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/31-3b0eeb799b8718dc5b1ec7dff6a0c003.mp3?version_id=206—

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

2 Now at that time the king of Babylon’s army was besieging Jerusalem; and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah’s house.

3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy, and say, ‘Yahweh says, “Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;

4 and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall see his eyes;

5 and he shall bring Zedekiah to Babylon, and he shall be there until I visit him,” says Yahweh: “though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not prosper?”’”

6 Jeremiah said, “Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,

7 ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you, saying, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.”’”

8 “So Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to Yahweh’s word, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’

“Then I knew that this was Yahweh’s word.

9 I bought the field that was in Anathoth of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekelsof silver.

10 I signed the deed, sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed the money in the balances to him.

11 So I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, containing the terms and conditions, and that which was open;

12 and I delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses who subscribed the deed of the purchase, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard.

13 “I commanded Baruch before them, saying,

14 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase which is sealed, and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel; that they may continue many days.’

15 For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Houses and fields and vineyards shall yet again be bought in this land.’

16 Now after I had delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to Yahweh, saying,

17 “Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for you,

18 who show loving kindness to thousands, and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them; the great, the mighty God, Yahweh of Armies is his name;

19 great in counsel, and mighty in work; whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:

20 who performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, both in Israel and among other men; and made yourself a name, as it is today;

21 and brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror;

22 and gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;

23 and they came in, and possessed it, but they didn’t obey your voice, neither walked in your law; they have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do: therefore you have caused all this evil to come upon them.

24 “Behold, the mounds, they have come to the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence; and what you have spoken has happened; and behold, you see it.

25 You have said to me, Lord Yahweh, ‘Buy the field for money, and call witnesses;’ whereas the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”

26 Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying,

27 “Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?

28 Therefore Yahweh says: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:

29 and the Chaldeans, who fight against this city, shall come and set this city on fire, and burn it, with the houses, on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.

30 “For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only that which was evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says Yahweh.

31 For this city has been to me a provocation of my anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even to this day; that I should remove it from before my face,

32 because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

33 They have turned to me the back, and not the face: and though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.

34 But they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.

35 They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through fire to Molech; which I didn’t command them, neither did it come into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.”

36 Now therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says concerning this city, about which you say, “It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence:”

37 “Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries, where I have driven them in my anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:

38 and they shall be my people, and I will be their God:

39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good, and of their children after them:

40 and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me.

41 Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.”

42 For Yahweh says: “Like as I have brought all this great evil on this people, so will I bring on them all the good that I have promised them.

43 Fields shall be bought in this land, about which you say, It is desolate, without man or animal; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

44 Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe the deeds, and seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South: for I will cause their captivity to return,” says Yahweh.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/32-1bbebc3c008a339a2dadb3ababbb5e97.mp3?version_id=206—

1 Moreover Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying,

2 “Yahweh who does it, Yahweh who forms it to establish it; Yahweh is his name, says:

3 ‘Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and difficult, which you don’t know.’

4 For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to make a defense against the mounds and against the sword;

5 while men come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in my anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hidden my face from this city:

6 ‘Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth.

7 I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

8 I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by which they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, by which they have sinned against me, and by which they have transgressed against me.

9 This city shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do to them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure to it.’”

10 Yahweh says: “Yet again there shall be heard in this place, about which you say, ‘It is waste, without man and without animal, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,’

11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, ‘Give thanks to Yahweh of Armies, for Yahweh is good, for his loving kindness endures forever;’ who bring thanksgiving into Yahweh’s house. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first,” says Yahweh.

12 Yahweh of Armies says: “Yet again shall there be in this place, which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.

13 In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks again pass under the hands of him who counts them,” says Yahweh.

14 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah.

15 “In those days, and at that time,

I will cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David;

and he will execute justice and righteousness in the land.

16 In those days Judah will be saved,

and Jerusalem will dwell safely;

and this is the name by which she shall be called:

Yahweh our righteousness.”

17 For Yahweh says: “David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;

18 neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to burn meal offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.”

19 Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying,

20 “Yahweh says: ‘If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season;

21 then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.

22 As the army of the sky can’t be counted, neither the sand of the sea measured; so I will multiply the offspringof David my servant, and the Levites who minister to me.’”

23 Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying,

24 “Don’t consider what this people has spoken, saying, ‘The two families which Yahweh chose, he has cast them off?’ Thus they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.”

25 Yahweh says: “If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;

26 then I will also cast away the offspringof Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his offspringto be rulers over the offspringof Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/33-e910909c9b76f7365396ddeb0b344a6b.mp3?version_id=206—

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of it, saying:

2 “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Yahweh says, “Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.

3 You won’t escape out of his hand, but will surely be taken, and delivered into his hand. Your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with you mouth to mouth. You will go to Babylon.”’

4 “Yet hear Yahweh’s word, O Zedekiah king of Judah: Yahweh says concerning you, ‘You won’t die by the sword.

5 You will die in peace; and with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will make a burning for you. They shall lament you, saying, “Ah Lord!” for I have spoken the word,’ says Yahweh.”

6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,

7 when the king of Babylon’s army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities.

8 The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;

9 that every man should let his male servant, and every man his female servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that no one should make bondservants of them, of a Jew his brother.

10 All the princes and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant, and everyone his female servant, go free, that no one should make bondservants of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go:

11 but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.

12 Therefore Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,

13 “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,

14 At the end of seven years, every man of you shall release his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years. You shall let him go free from you; but your fathers didn’t listen to me, and didn’t incline their ear.

15 You had now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name;

16 but you turned and profaned my name, and every man caused his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and you brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.’”

17 Therefore Yahweh says: “You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim to you a liberty,” says Yahweh, “to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. I will make you be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.

18 I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts:

19 the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf;

20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.

21 “I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hands of their enemies, into the hands of those who seek their life, and into the hands of the king of Babylon’s army, who has gone away from you.

22 Behold, I will command,” says Yahweh, “and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, take it, and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/34-487a2f8ca8b60c146c596f3df8504ee0.mp3?version_id=206—

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into Yahweh’s house, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink.”

3 Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;

4 and I brought them into Yahweh’s house, into the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the room of the princes, which was above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.

5 I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine!”

6 But they said, “We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, neither you, nor your sons, forever.

7 You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, or have any; but all your days you shall dwell in tents; that you may live many days in the land in which you live.’

8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters;

9 and not to build houses for ourselves to dwell in. We have no vineyard, field, or seed;

10 but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

11 But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians; so we will dwell at Jerusalem.’”

12 Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying,

13 “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Go, and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive instruction to listen to my words?” says Yahweh.

14 “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father’s commandment: but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; and you have not listened to me.

15 I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Return now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and don’t go after other gods to serve them, and you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers:’ but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to me.

16 The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to me.”’

17 “Therefore Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them, but they have not heard; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.’”

18 Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you;’

19 therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before me forever.’”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/35-4e05cd9d56385f8dea0a225aa4b6c33b.mp3?version_id=206—

1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,

2 “Take a scroll of a book, and write in it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.

3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do to them; that they may each return from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all Yahweh’s words, which he had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book.

5 Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted. I can’t go into Yahweh’s house.

6 Therefore you go, and read from the scroll, which you have written from my mouth, Yahweh’s words in the ears of the people in Yahweh’s house on the fast day. Also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities.

7 It may be they will present their supplication before Yahweh, and will each return from his evil way; for Yahweh has pronounced great anger and wrath against this people.”

8 Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book Yahweh’s words in Yahweh’s house.

9 Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before Yahweh.

10 Then Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the book in Yahweh’s house, in the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan, the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of Yahweh’s house, in the ears of all the people.

11 When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all Yahweh’s words,

12 he went down into the king’s house, into the scribe’s room: and behold, all the princes were sitting there, Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.

13 Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.

14 Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll in which you have read in the ears of the people, and come.”

So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand, and came to them.

15 They said to him, “Sit down now, and read it in our hearing.”

So Baruch read it in their hearing.

16 Now when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.”

17 They asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, How did you write all these words at his mouth?”

18 Then Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”

19 Then the princes said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah go hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.”

20 They went in to the king into the court; but they had laid up the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe; and they told all the words in the ears of the king.

21 So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll; and he took it out of the room of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes who stood beside the king.

22 Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month: and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him.

23 When Jehudi had read three or four leaves, the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.

24 The king and his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, and didn’t tear their garments.

25 Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them.

26 The king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but Yahweh hid them.

27 Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, after the king had burned the scroll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,

28 “Take again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned.

29 Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Yahweh says: “You have burned this scroll, saying, “Why have you written therein, saying, ‘The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from there man and animal?’”’

30 Therefore Yahweh says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: “He will have no one to sit on David’s throne. His dead body will be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.

31 I will punish him and his offspringand his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they didn’t listen.”’”

32 Then took Jeremiah another scroll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/36-a5df94e7fa7d6e271b78a1d6ae90caf0.mp3?version_id=206—

1 Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.

2 But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, listened to Yahweh’s words, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.

3 Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Pray now to Yahweh our God for us.”

4 Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison.

5 Pharaoh’s army had come out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they broke up from Jerusalem.

6 Then came Yahweh’s word to the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

7 “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘You shall tell the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: “Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.

8 The Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city; and they shall take it, and burn it with fire.”’

9 “Yahweh says, ‘Don’t deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us;” for they shall not depart.

10 For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yes they would each rise up in his tent and burn this city with fire.’”

11 When the army of the Chaldeans had broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army,

12 then Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to receive his portion there, in the middle of the people.

13 When he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are defecting to the Chaldeans!”

14 Then Jeremiah said, “That is false! I am not falling away to the Chaldeans.”

But he didn’t listen to him; so Irijah siezed Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.

15 The princes were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.

16 When Jeremiah had come into the dungeon house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days,

17 then Zedekiah the king sent, and fetched him. The king asked him secretly in his house, and said, “Is there any word from Yahweh?”

Jeremiah said, “There is.” He said also, “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”

18 Moreover Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you, against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?

19 Now where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you, nor against this land?’

20 Now please hear, my lord the king: please let my supplication be presented before you, that you not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.”

21 Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard. They gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was gone. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/9/32k/JER/37-2180a3bba621e49882e0c132baf94d65.mp3?version_id=206—