Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur
1 Now jPashhur the priest, the son of kImmer, who was lchief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Then jPashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him min the stocks that were in the upper nBenjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. 3 The next day, when jPashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name jPashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4 For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you oa terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. 5 Moreover, pI will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its qprized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. 6 And you, rPashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, sto whom you have prophesied falsely.”
7 O Lord, tyou have deceived me,
and I was deceived;
uyou are stronger than I,
and you have prevailed.
vI have become a laughingstock all the day;
everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, w“Violence and destruction!”
For xthe word of the Lord has become for me
ya reproach and yderision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
zthere is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and aI am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
10 bFor I hear many whispering.
cTerror is on every side!
“Denounce him! dLet us denounce him!”
say all my eclose friends,
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then hwe can overcome him
and take our revenge on him.”
11 But ithe Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble;
ithey will not overcome me.
jThey will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their keternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
12 O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
lwho sees the heart and the mind,1
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
13 mSing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers.
14 nCursed be the day
on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
“A son is born to you,”
omaking him very glad.
16 Let that man be like pthe cities
that the Lord overthrew without pity;
qlet him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,
17 rbecause he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave,
and her womb forever great.
18 sWhy did I come out from the womb
tto see toil and sorrow,
and spend my days in shame?
The Obedience of the Rechabites
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of nJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the oRechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of pthe chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4 I brought them to the house of the Lord into pthe chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, qthe man of God, which was near pthe chamber of the officials, above pthe chamber of rMaaseiah the son of Shallum, skeeper of the threshold. 5 Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for tJonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7 You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, uthat you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 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, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9 and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10 but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But vwhen Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of wthe army of the Chaldeans and wthe army of the Syrians.’ xSo we are living in Jerusalem.”
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, yWill you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. 14 The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you zpersistently, but you have not listened to me. 15 I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them zpersistently, saying, a‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and bdo not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ cBut you did not incline your ear or listen to me. 16 The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, dbecause I have spoken to them and they have not listened, dI have called to them and they have not answered.”
18 But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, 19 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man eto stand before me.”
Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll
1 In the ffourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Take ga scroll and hwrite on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and iJudah jand all the nations, kfrom the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. 3 lIt may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, mso that every one may turn from his evil way, and nthat I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
4 Then Jeremiah called oBaruch the son of Neriah, and oBaruch wrote on ga scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him. 5 And Jeremiah ordered oBaruch, saying, p“I am banned from going to the house of the Lord, 6 so you are to go, and qon a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the Lord’s house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities. 7 lIt may be that their plea for mercy will come before the Lord, mand that every one will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” 8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.
9 rIn the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, sin the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem tproclaimed a fast before the Lord. 10 Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the Lord, in uthe chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house.
11 When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, son of vShaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, 12 he went down to the king’s house, into the secretary’s chamber, and wall the officials were sitting there: xElishama the secretary, yDelaiah the son of Shemaiah, yElnathan zthe son of Achbor, yGemariah the son of zShaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the officials. 13 And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. 14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, son of aShelemiah, son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Take in your hand the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. 15 And they said to him, “Sit down and read it.” So Baruch read it to them. 16 When they heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear. And they said to Baruch, b“We must report all these words to the king.” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” 18 Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, cwhile I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” 19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”
20 So they went into the court to the king, having put the scroll in dthe chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words to the king. 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. 22 It was ethe ninth month, and the king was sitting in fthe winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. 23 As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. 24 Yet gneither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, hnor did they tear their garments. 25 Even when iElnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah jurged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the kking’s son and Seraiah the son of Azriel and lShelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize mBaruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.
27 Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. 29 And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, You have burned this scroll, saying, n“Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?” 30 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: oHe shall have none pto sit on the throne of David, qand his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. 31 rAnd I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.’”
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to sBaruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who twrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.
1 Masters, treat your bondservants1 justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
Further Instructions
2 cContinue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it dwith thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may eopen to us a door for the word, fto declare the mystery of Christ, gon account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
5 hWalk in wisdom toward ioutsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always jbe gracious, kseasoned with salt, lso that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Final Greetings
7 Tychicus will tell you mall about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant2 in the Lord. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, 9 and with him nOnesimus, our faithful and obeloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.
10 pAristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark qthe cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—rif he comes to you, welcome him), 11 and Jesus who is called sJustus. tThese are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and uthey have been a comfort to me. 12 vEpaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always wstruggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand xmature and fully assured in all the will of God. 13 For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. 14 yLuke the beloved physician greets you, as does zDemas. 15 Give my greetings to the brothers3 at Laodicea, and to Nympha and athe church in her house. 16 And when bthis letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17 And say to cArchippus, “See that you fulfill dthe ministry that you have received in the Lord.”
18 I, Paul, ewrite this greeting with my own hand. fRemember gmy chains. hGrace be with you.
