Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Baruch writes the words of Jeremiah on a scroll and reads them to the people in the temple. King Jehoiakim burns the scroll and calls for Jeremiah’s and Baruch’s arrest. Jeremiah and Baruch go into hiding and write a second scroll that condemns Jehoiakim and his offspring to death.

II. Photo

Jehoiakim burns Jeremiah’s scroll: “As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a penknife and throw them into the fire in the brazier, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.” (v. 23)

III. Select Verses

2-3: Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today.  It may be that when the house of Judah hears of all the disasters that I intend to do to them, all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.

11-12, 16: When Micaiah son of Gemariah son of Shaphan heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll,  he went down to the king’s house, into the secretary’s chamber; and all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the officials… When they heard all the words, they turned to one another in alarm, and said to Baruch, “We certainly must report all these words to the king.”

22-25: Now the king was sitting in his winter apartment (it was the ninth month), and there was a fire burning in the brazier before him. As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a penknife and throw them into the fire in the brazier, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. Yet neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words, was alarmed, nor did they tear their garments. Even when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.

26: And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son and Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest the secretary Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. But the LORD hid them.

30-31: Therefore thus says the LORD concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah: He shall have no one to sit upon the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity; I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah, all the disasters with which I have threatened them—but they would not listen.

IV. Outline

1. Introduction: prophecy in the fourth year of Jehoiakim

2-3. Jeremiah is to write a scroll of sins to bring about repentance

4-7. Baruch son of Neriah writes the scroll and is to pronounce it in the Temple on a fast day

8. Baruch completes his task

9-10. Baruch reads the scroll in the temple on a fast day

11-13. Micaiah relates the message to the king’s scribes

14. The scribes call for Baruch’s scroll, and he brings it

15. Baruch reads the scroll

16-19. Baruch and Jeremiah are to hide from the king

20-25. The scroll is read to king Jehoiakim, who burns it nonchalantly

26. Jeremiah and Baruch are to be arrested, but Yahweh has hidden them

27-31. Yahweh tells Jeremiah to write a second scroll, this one condemning Jehoiakim and his offspring to death

32. Jermiah dictates the words of the scroll to Baruch

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Jeremiah tempts the Rechabites with wine but they abstain in accordance with their tradition. Yahweh promises to bring devastation to the people of Judah, who, unlike the Rechabites, do not keep their traditions.

II. Photo

Jeremiah tempts the Rechabites: “I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, ‘Have some wine.’” (v. 5)

III. Select Verses

5-10:  Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Have some wine.” But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us, ‘You shall never drink wine, neither you nor your children;  nor shall you ever build a house, or sow seed; nor shall you plant a vineyard, or even own one; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you reside.’ We have obeyed the charge of our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, and not to build houses to live in. We have no vineyard or field or seed; but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed and done all that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us.

11: But when King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Arameans.’ That is why we are living in Jerusalem.”

13-15: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Can you not learn a lesson and obey my words? says the LORD. The command has been carried out that Jonadab son of Rechab gave to his descendants to drink no wine; and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I myself have spoken to you persistently, and you have not obeyed me.  I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, ‘Turn now everyone of you from your evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall live in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.’ But you did not incline your ear or obey me.

18-19: 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 your ancestor Jonadab, and kept all his precepts, and done all that he commanded you,  therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab son of Rechab shall not lack a descendant to stand before me for all time.

IV. Outline

1-11. The Rechabites keep their traditions

    1. Introduction: the time of Jehoiakim

    2. Jeremiah is told to offer wine to the Rechabites

    3-5. Jeremiah offers wine to the Rechabites

    6-10. The Rechabites decline, in accordance with their ancestor’s wish

    11. Why the Rechabites are in Jerusalem

12-19. The Rechabites compared to Judah

    12. Introduction

    13-14a. The Rechabites keep their tradition

    14b-16. The people have not kept the tradition of Yahweh

    17. Jerusalem and Judah will be punished

    18-19. The Rechabites will never be wiped out from Jerusalem

 

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Yahweh tells Jeremiah that king Zedekiah will be exiled to Babylon where he will die in peace. Yahweh promises death and destruction to Judah when the people renege on their commitment to free their Hebrew slaves .

II. Photo

Zedekiah will not be forgotten: “As spices were burned for your ancestors, the earlier kings who preceded you, so they shall burn spices for you and lament for you.” (v. 5)

III. Select Verses

4-5: Yet hear the word of the LORD, O King Zedekiah of Judah! Thus says the LORD concerning you: You shall not die by the sword;  you shall die in peace. And as spices were burned for your ancestors, the earlier kings who preceded you, so they shall burn spices for you and lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!” For I have spoken the word, says the LORD.

8-11: The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them,  that all should set free their Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should hold another Judean in slavery. And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that all would set free their slaves, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again; they obeyed and set them free.  But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves they had set free, and brought them again into subjection as slaves.

13-14: Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, “Every seventh year each of you must set free any Hebrews who have been sold to you and have served you six years; you must set them free from your service.” But your ancestors did not listen to me or incline their ears to me.

18-20: And those who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make like the calf when they cut it in two and passed between its parts:  the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf shall be handed over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives. Their corpses shall become food for the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth.

IV. Outline

1-5. Oracle about Zedekiah’s capture and death

    1. General introduction: prophecy while Babylon attacks Jerusalem

    2a. Introduction: a message for Zedekiah

    2b-3. Jerusalem will be sacked and Zedekiah will be brought to Babylon

    4-5. Zedekiah will die in peace and be lamented

6-22. Oracle about the sin of the unfreed slaves

    6-7. General introduction: prophecy during the battles for Jerusalem, Lachish, and Azekah

    8-11. General introduction: Zedekiah and the people agreed to free their Hebrew slaves but then reneged

    12. Introduction    

    13-14a. Yahweh’s command about the law of the seventh year 

    14b. The ancestors did not follow the law

    15-16. Although the people repented, they returned to sin

    17. The people who sinned will die of sword, pestilence and famine

    18-20. The people will be like the calf cut in two, corpses left for the scavengers

    21. Zedekiah and his officials will be exiled

    22. The land of Judah will become a desolation

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Yahweh tells Jeremiah that Jerusalem will be rebuilt and that David’s descendants will once again be kings of all Israel.

II. Photo

Yahweh’s covenant with David is everlasting: “If you could break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night should not come at their proper time, only then could my covenant with my servant David be broken.” (v. 20-21)

III. Select Verses

2-3: Thus said the LORD who is planning it, The LORD who is shaping it to bring it about, Whose name is LORD: Call to Me, and I will answer you, And I will tell you wondrous things, Secrets you have not known.

8: And I will purge them of all the sins which they committed against Me, and I will pardon all the sins which they committed against Me, by which they rebelled against Me.

16: In those days Judah shall be delivered and Israel shall dwell secure. And this is what she shall be called: “The LORD is our Vindicator.”

20-22: Thus said the LORD: If you could break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night should not come at their proper time, only then could My covenant with My servant David be broken — so that he would not have a descendant reigning upon his throne — or with My ministrants, the levitical priests. Like the host of heaven which cannot be counted, and the sand of the sea which cannot be measured, so will I multiply the offspring of My servant David, and of the Levites who minister to Me.

IV. Outline

1-3. General introduction

    1. Jeremiah in prison

    2. Appellation: Yahweh the one who brings things about

    3. Yahweh will respond to a request

4-11. Oracles about Jerusalem and the monarchy

    4-5. Introduction about Jerusalem, which is full of dead fighters 

    6-7. Jerusalem will be rebuilt

    8. Sins will be forgiven

    9. The nations will be in awe of Jerusalem

    10-11. Future joy in Jerusalem

    12-13. Grazing land will be restored

    14-17. The house of David will be restored upon all Israel

    18. The line of Levitic Priests will never end

19-22. Oracle about David’s progeny

    19. Introduction

    20-21. The covenant of David cannot be broken, as day cannot become night

    22. David and the Levites will be as the sand and the stars

23-28. Oracle about David’s line

    23. Introduction

    24. People look down on Yahweh’s nation

    25-26. David will be restored for all time

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Yahweh tells Jeremiah to buy a piece of land with a deed at the very moment that Jerusalem is besieged. When Jeremiah asks why, Yahweh responds that he will exile the people before bringing them back, at which point they will buy parcels of land with deeds of sale.

II. Photo

Yahweh will restore the economy: “Fields shall be purchased, and deeds written and sealed, and witnesses called… for I will restore their fortunes” (v. 44)

III. Select Verses

1-2: The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the prison compound attached to the palace of the king of Judah.

7-8: Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you and say, “Buy my land in Anathoth, for you are next in succession to redeem it by purchase.” And just as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the prison compound and said to me, “Please buy my land in Anathoth, in the territory of Benjamin; for the right of succession is yours, and you have the duty of redemption. Buy it.” Then I knew that it was indeed the word of the LORD.

14-15: Thus said the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: “Take these documents, this deed of purchase, the sealed text and the open one, and put them into an earthen jar, so that they may last a long time.” For thus said the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: “Houses, fields, and vineyards shall again be purchased in this land.”

24-25:  Here are the siegemounds, raised against the city to storm it; and the city, because of sword and famine and pestilence, is at the mercy of the Chaldeans who are attacking it. What You threatened has come to pass — as You see.  Yet You, Lord GOD, said to me: Buy the land for money and call in witnesses — when the city is at the mercy of the Chaldeans!”

43-44: And fields shall again be purchased in this land of which you say, “It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans.” Fields shall be purchased, and deeds written and sealed, and witnesses called in the land of Benjamin and in the environs of Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah; the towns of the hill country, the towns of the Shephelah, and the towns of the Negeb. For I will restore their fortunes — declares the LORD.

IV. Outline

1-6. Introduction

    1-2a. General introduction: prophecy during Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem during the reign of Zedekiah

    2b-5. The prophecy of exile that landed Jeremiah in prison

    6. Introduction proper

7-25. The Deed    

    7-8. Proof of prophecy: Hanamel asks Jeremiah to buy his land, as Yahweh foretold

    9-10. Jeremiah buys the land and writes a deed

    11-15. Symbolic act: Jeremiah gives the deed to Baruch son of Neriah to keep, for fields will be purchased again in the land

16-25. Jeremiah’s complaint

    16. Introduction

    17-23a. Hymnic praise: kindness, might, judiciousness, miracles in Egypt, giving the land

    23b. The people have sinned, which led to their punishment

    24-25. Petition: How could Yahweh speak to Jeremiah about a land deed in the midst of Jerusalem’s destruction?

26-44. Yahweh’s response

    26. Introduction

    27. Self praise (hymnic): Yahweh can do anything

    28-29. The Babylonians will capture and destroy the idolatrous city

    30-35. The people are guilty of idolatry

    36-37. Yahweh will gather in the exiles

    38-41. The new covenant, when the people will not turn away

    42-44. The land will be resettled and people will write deeds (hence the symbolic action)

 

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Yahweh promises to gather in the exiles so that they can live joyous, prosperous, and righteous lives. He will create a new covenant which cannot be broken. He will also rebuild the outer limits of Jerusalem.

II. Photo

Yahweh will settle the people: “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals.” (v. 27)

III. Select Verses

1: At that time — declares the LORD — I will be God to all the clans of Israel, and they shall be My people.

4-6: I will build you firmly again, O Maiden Israel! Again you shall take up your timbrels And go forth to the rhythm of the dancers. Again you shall plant vineyards On the hills of Samaria; Men shall plant and live to enjoy them.  For the day is coming when watchmen Shall proclaim on the heights of Ephraim: Come, let us go up to Zion, To the LORD our God!

15-17: Thus says the LORD: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more. Thus says the LORD: Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for there is a reward for your work, says the LORD: they shall come back from the land of the enemy; there is hope for your future, says the LORD: your children shall come back to their own country.

29-30: In those days they shall no longer say: “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.

31-34: The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

35-37: Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD of hosts is his name: If this fixed order were ever to cease from my presence, says the LORD, then also the offspring of Israel would cease to be a nation before me forever. Thus says the LORD: If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will reject all the offspring of Israel because of all they have done, says the LORD.

IV. Outline

1-26. Oracles about the ingathering of the exiles

    1. Introduction: Yahweh and all Israel will be reunited

    2-3. Yahweh revealed his eternal love for Israel in the wilderness (enigmatic statement)

    4-6. Future joy, prosperity, and return to Zion

    7. Call to praise and petition

    8-9. The exiles of “Ephraim” (the north) will be returned

    10-11. Message to the nations: Yahweh will gather in the exiles

    12-14. Zion will prosper and the people will be joyful

    15-17. Rachel cries for her children (Ephraim and Manasseh = the north) but Yahweh promises their return

    18-19. Ephraim’s lament

    20. Yahweh will receive Ephraim with love

    21-22. A call to return (enigmatic statement: like a woman calls for a man?)

    23-25. Future prosperity and righteousness for Judah

26. The point in time that Jeremiah awoke from his sleep

27-30. Oracles about future prosperity

    27. The north and south will be “sowed” with the “seed” of people and cattle

    28. The people who once destroyed will build and plant

    29-30. Pedagogic statement: children will no longer suffer on account of their parents’ sins

31-37. Oracle regarding the new covenant

    31. Introduction

    32-33. Unlike with the original covenant, which Israel broke, this covenant will be placed in the hearts of the people

    34. All the people will know Yahweh and their sins will be forgiven

    35-36. The covenant is as eternal as day and night

    37. The covenenant is unbreakable (just as the heavens cannot be measured)

38-40. Oracle regarding the borders of Jerusalem and the city’s rebuilding

 

V. Comment

Verses 38-40 mention a number of sites in the vicinity of Jerusalem:

• The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Wadi Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall never again be uprooted or overthrown.

Gerald Lynwood Keown, Pamela J Scalise, and Thomas G Smothers shed the following light on the locations of each of these sites as follows (Jeremiah 26-52, pp. 137-139):

• The tower of Hananel: “According to Neh 3:1; 12:39; Zech 14:10, the Tower of Hananel was on the north side of the temple mount.”
• The Corner Gate: “The Corner Gate is also mentioned in 2 Kgs 14:13(//2 Chr 25:23), which locates it at the northwest corner, and 2 Chr 26:9, which tells how Uzziah fortified it with a tower. “Gate of the Corners” in Zech 14:10 is probably the same structure.”
• The hill Gareb: Location unknown.
• Goah: Location unknown.
• The valley of the dead bodies and the ashes: “The Valley of ben-Hinnom is infamous in the book of Jeremiah as the site of Topheth, where children were “passed through the fire” to strange gods. The דשן “fatty ashes,” of the sacrificial victim (Lev 6:3 [Eng 10]) would refer to their remains. Jer 19:6–13 warns that Topheth will be filled with dead bodies and graves as a judgment upon the city’s false worship.”
• Wadi Kidron: “The Valley of ben-Hinnom joins the Kidron Valley southeast of Jerusalem… The Kidron Valley was a garbage dump (1 Kgs 15:13; 2 Kgs 23:6) and the location of the graves of the common people, which Josiah defiled with the dust and ashes of the image he removed from the temple and destroyed (2 Kgs 23:6).”
• The Horse Gate: “North of this intersection, the Kidron lies just outside the eastern wall of the city and the temple. The Horse Gate was located in that wall, somewhere south of the temple mount (Neh 3:28).”

VI. Works Used

Gerald Lynwood Keown, Pamela J Scalise, and Thomas G Smothers. Jeremiah 26-52. Waco: Word Books, 1995. Pp. 137-139.

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Jeremiah records his prophecies about the ingathering of the exiles, the reinstated monarchy, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the punishment of his enemies.

II. Photo

Yahweh is likened to a storm: “Look, the storm of the Lord! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked.” (v. 23)

III. Select Verses

2-3: Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. For the days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors and they shall take possession of it.

6: Ask now, and see, can a man bear a child? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor? Why has every face turned pale?

8-9: On that day, says the LORD of hosts, I will break the yoke from off his neck, and I will burst his bonds, and strangers shall no more make a servant of him. But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

15b: Because your guilt is great, because your sins are so numerous, I have done these things to you.

16: Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured, and all your foes, everyone of them, shall go into captivity; those who plunder you shall be plundered, and all who prey on you I will make a prey.

IV. Outline

1-3. Yahweh tells Jeremiah to record his prophecies for the exiles who return

4. Introduction

5-7. The people will suffer as if in labor

8-9. Yahweh will then free them and reinstate the Davidic king

10-11. The exiles will be returned

12-15. The people’s pain is great

16. Israel’s enemies will be destroyed

17. Yahweh will restore Israel, which was cast off

18. Zion will be restored

19-20. The people will be merry, healthy, and prosperous

21. A ruler will be established

22. Yahweh and Israel’s relationship will be restored

23-24. Yahweh will punish his enemies like a storm

 

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Jeremiah sends a letter to the Babylonian exiles encouraging them to prosper and multiply until their 70 year exile is complete. The letter also dooms the false prophets of Babylon and the people of Jerusalem.

II. Photo

Jeremiah sends a letter: “These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.” (v. 1)

III. Select Verses

4-7: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

10-11: For thus says the LORD: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.

13-14a: When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the LORD

24-32: To Shemaiah of Nehelam you shall say: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: In your own name you sent a letter to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying, The LORD himself has made you priest instead of the priest Jehoiada, so that there may be officers in the house of the LORD to control any madman who plays the prophet, to put him in the stocks and the collar. So now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who plays the prophet for you? For he has actually sent to us in Babylon, saying, “It will be a long time; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat what they produce.” The priest Zephaniah read this letter in the hearing of the prophet Jeremiah. Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: Send to all the exiles, saying, Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, though I did not send him, and has led you to trust in a lie, therefore thus says the LORD: I am going to punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants; he shall not have anyone living among this people to see the good that I am going to do to my people, says the LORD, for he has spoken rebellion against the LORD.

IV. Outline

1-3. Introduction to Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles

4-32. The Letter

4. Introduction from Yahweh

5-7. Prosper and multiply in Babylon

8-9. The prophets in Babylon are false

10-14. After 70 years Yahweh will return the exiles

15. The people’s belief that prophets have risen in Babylon

16-19. The king and people of Jerusalem will be destroyed

20-23. The false prophets Ahab and Zedekiah will be burned in Babylon and become a byword for cursing

24-32. The false prophet Shemaiah will be punished for sending a letter to Jerusalem trying to suppress Jeremiah

 

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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