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J EREMIA H 2 8
9 “‘Do not listen to your false prophets, fortune-tellers, interpreters of dreams, mediums,
and sorcerers who say, “The king of Babylon
will not conquer you.” 10 They are all liars, and
their lies will lead to your being driven out of
your land. I will drive you out and send you far
away to die. 11 But the people of any nation that
submits to the king of Babylon will be allowed
to stay in their own country to farm the land as
usual. I, the Lord, have spoken!’”
— promises —
from God
“For I know the plans
I have for you,” says
the Lord. “They are
plans for good and
not for disaster, to give
you a future and a hope.”
J E R E M I A H 2 9:1 1
12 Then I repeated this same message to King
Zedekiah of Judah. “If you want to live, submit to
the yoke of the king of Babylon and his people.
13 Why do you insist on dying—you and your
people? Why should you choose war, famine,
and disease, which the Lord will bring against
every nation that refuses to submit to Babylon’s
king? 14 Do not listen to the false prophets who
keep telling you, ‘The king of Babylon will not
conquer you.’ They are liars. 15 This is what the
Lord says: ‘I have not sent these prophets! They
are telling you lies in my name, so I will drive
you from this land. You will all die—you and all
these prophets, too.’”
16 Then I spoke to the priests and the people
and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not
listen to your prophets who claim that soon
the gold articles taken from my Temple will be
returned from Babylon. It is all a lie! 17 Do not
listen to them. Surrender to the king of Babylon,
and you will live. Why should this whole city
be destroyed? 18 If they really are prophets and
speak the Lord’s messages, let them pray to the
Lord of Heaven’s Armies. Let them pray that the
articles remaining in the Lord’s Temple and in
the king’s palace and in the palaces of Jerusalem will not be carried away to Babylon!’
19 “For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has spoken about the pillars in front of the Temple,
the great bronze basin called the Sea, the
water carts, and all the other ceremonial
articles. 20 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
left them here when he exiled Jehoiachin* son
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of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon, along
with all the other nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. 21 Yes, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s
Armies, the God of Israel, says about the precious things still in the Temple, in the palace of
Judah’s king, and in Jerusalem: 22 ‘They will all
be carried away to Babylon and will stay there
until I send for them,’ says the Lord. ‘Then I
will bring them back to Jerusalem again.’”
Jeremiah Condemns Hananiah
One day in late summer* of that same
year—the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah—Hananiah son of Azzur,
a prophet from Gibeon, addressed me publicly
in the Temple while all the priests and people
listened. He said, 2 “This is what the Lord of
Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will
remove the yoke of the king of Babylon from
your necks. 3 Within two years I will bring back
all the Temple treasures that King Nebuchadnezzar carried off to Babylon. 4 And I will bring
back Jehoiachin* son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the other captives that were taken
to Babylon. I will surely break the yoke that the
king of Babylon has put on your necks. I, the
Lord, have spoken!’”
5 Jeremiah responded to Hananiah as they
stood in front of all the priests and people at
the Temple. 6 He said, “Amen! May your prophecies come true! I hope the Lord does everything
you say. I hope he does bring back from Babylon
the treasures of this Temple and all the captives.
7 But listen now to the solemn words I speak to
you in the presence of all these people. 8 The ancient prophets who preceded you and me spoke
against many nations, always warning of war,
disaster, and disease. 9 So a prophet who predicts peace must show he is right. Only when
his predictions come true can we know that he
is really from the Lord.”
10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke
off Jeremiah’s neck and broke it in pieces. 11 And
Hananiah said again to the crowd that had
gathered, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Just as
this yoke has been broken, within two years I
will break the yoke of oppression from all the
nations now subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.’” With that, Jeremiah left the
Temple area.
12 Soon after this confrontation with Hananiah, the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah:
13 “Go and tell Hananiah, ‘This is what the Lord
says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but you
have replaced it with a yoke of iron. 14 The Lord
of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:
28
27:20 Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant spelling of Jehoiachin.
28:1 Hebrew In the fifth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar
calendar. The fifth month in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign
occurred within the months of August and September 593 b.c.
Also see note on 1:3. 28:4 Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant spelling
of Jehoiachin.