23 Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?

k Ju.3.7.

8.33,34.

34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even 11 punish that man and his house.

9 with whom is.

n Mal. 1.1.

27 Which think to cause my peo-" ple to forget my name by their o 2Ch.15.2. dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathersk have forgotten my name for Baal.

11 visit upon.

23 The prophet 9that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him P Ga.6.5. speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat! saith the LORD.

92Pe.3.16.

r Pr. 13. 13.

35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother. What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken? 36 And the burden of the LORD

He.4.12. 10 or, smooth.

m Is.3.12. Am.2.4.

29 Is not my word I like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a haminer that breaketh the rock in. pieces?

30 Therefore, behold, I am against (CHAP. 24.) the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.

a 2Ki.24.12,

&c.

31 Behold, I am against the pro-1 phets saith the LORD, that 10 use their tongues, and say, He saith.

c 1Sa. 13.19.

32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the. LORD, and do tell them, and cause 1 for badmy people to m err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: d Mat.25.32, therefore they shall not profit this 33. people at ali, saith the LORD.

ness.

33 And when this people, or the 2 the capprophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, tivity. saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto e He.12.10. them, What burden! I will even forsake o you, saith the LORD.

fch.29.10-19.

ch.32.39,40.

De.30.6. Eze. 11.19. 36.26,27.

$ Ho.4.7.

b ch.22.24, &c.

h ch.31.33.

ich.3.10. Ro.6.17.

prophets, &c. shall ye mention no more: for every p man's word shall be his burden for ye have perverted q the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.

37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?

38 But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;

39 Therefore,r behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fatliers, and cast you out of my presence.

40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach s upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

CHAPTER XXIV. The restoration of them that were in captivity foretold.

HE LORD showed me, and, be

set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar a king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, c from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, i they were so bad.

1

3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and d the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 4 T Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

5 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them 2 that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for e good.

6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and ƒ I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

7 And I will give them an heart g to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my h people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole i heart.

Jeremiah foretelleth

8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; (surely thus saith the LORD.) So will give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:

9 And I will deliver them 3 to be k removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, and to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.

3

4 And the LORD hath sent anto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.

5 They said, d Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:

for removing,or, vexation.

k De.23.25,

37. 1Ki.9.7.

Ps.44. 13.14. m ch.34.17. (CHAP. 25.)

a From 629 till 603.

b ch.7.13,&c. 11.7,&c. 29.19.

10 And m I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers. CHAPTER XXV.

Jeremiah foretelleth the seventy years'
captivity.
THE word that came to Jere-

all the people

e De.32.21. IKI.14.22. of Judah in the fourth year of Jef Pr.8.36. hoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of 5 Pr.21.1. Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;

Is. 10.5.
44.28.

2 The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,

1

3 From a the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, (that is the three and twentieth year,) thei Ec.12.2-4. word of the LORD hath come un'ok Le.26.34,35. me, and I have en unto you, rising b early and speaking; but ye have not c hearkened.

Beginning 606, 2K .24.1. Ending 506, Ezr. 1.1. Da.9.2.

c Ps.81.13. Is.55.2. Jno.8.47.

d ch.18.11.

35.15.

2Ki. 17. 13.

cause to perish from them.

Is.24.7,8. Ho.2.11.

2 visit upon. m ch. L.LI. Is. 14.23. 21.1,&c. 47.1.

n Da.5.28,31. 0 ch.27.7.

P Job 21.20.

6 And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me e not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.

Ps.75.8. Is.51.17. Re. 14.10. q Eze.23.34. Na.3.11.

7 Yet ye have not hearkened untor ver.9, 11. me, saith the LORD; that ye might s ch.46.2.&c. provoke me to anger with the t Ex. 12.38. works of your hands to your own f Nu. 11.4. น Job 1.1.

hurt.

8Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,

9 Behold, I will send and take all ach.XLVIII. XLIX. the families of the north, saith the 3 or, region LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, g and will bring them against this land,

by the sea

side.

ch.47.1,&c. w Ne. 13.23

27.

the captivity. and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

10 Moreover I will take from them the voice h of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the i sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, k and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

12 T And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will 2 punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity. and the land of the Chaldeans, and m will make it perpetual desolations.

13 And n I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against ail the nations.

11 For many nations and great kings shall serve o themselves of thein also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.

15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the winecupp of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it.

16 And q they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.

17 Then took I the cup at the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me :

18 To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kngy thereof, and the princes thereof. tor make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; (as it is this day;)

19 Pharoah s king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;

20 And all the mingled t people, and all the kings of the land of 'z and all the kings of the land of the v Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of w Ashdod,

21 Edom, z and Moab, and the children of Aminon,

22 And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the 3 isles which are be yond the sea,

Jeremiah arraigned.

in the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house.

11 Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, 2 This man is worthy to die; for g he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have beard with your ears.

12 T Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the peo-g ple, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.

13 Therefore now amend h your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced | against von.

or, at the door.

2 The judg ment of

ears.

16 T Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our

death is for

this man.

ch.38.4,5.

h ch.7.3-7.

3 it is good and right in your cyes.

i Ac.5.34,&c.

A Mi.1.1.

7 Mi.3. 12.

m 2Ch.32.26. 4 face of the LORD.

n 28a.24.16.

14 As for me, behold, I am in your hand do with me as 3 seemeth good and meet unto you.

15 But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall sure-1 ly bring innocent blood upon your-o Ps. 119.109. selves, and upon this city, and upon p Mat. 10.23. the inhabitants thereof for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your

5 sons of the people.

q ch.39.14.

2Ki.22.12, 14.

Is.37.32,33. (CHAP. 27.)

God.

17 Then i rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to allor, hath the the assembly of the people, saying,

LORD said.

12.3.

18 Micah the Morasthite k pro-a Eze.4.1. phesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the 2 or, concern people of Judah, saying, Thus saith, the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be ploughed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

ing their masters, saying. b Ps. 146.6.

Is.45.12.

c De.32.8,9. Ps. 115.16. Da. 4. 17,32. d ch.28.14.

19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fearm the LORD, and besought the 4 LORD, and the LORD repented n him of the evil e ch.25.9. which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.

43.10. Eze.29.1820.

Da.5. 19.

20 And there was also a man that f Da.2.38. prophesied in the name of the LORD, g 2Ch.36.20. Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim,who prophesied against h ch.25.12. this city, and against this land, according to all thewords of Jeremiah: 21 And when Jehoiakim the king,i with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought o to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, p and went into Egypt.

3 dreams.

50.27. ch.25.14. Da.5.26,31. 50.9.10. 51.27,28.

His prophecy.

22 And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.

23 And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the 5 common people.

24 Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam q the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of r the people to put him to death.

CHAPTER XXVII.

The subduing of the neighbouring kings unto Nebuchadnezzar. N the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee a bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,

3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;

4 And command them 2 to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;

5 Ib have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my out-stretched arm, and have given it c unto whom it seemed meet unto me.

6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzard the king of Babylon, my servant; e and the beasts f of the field have I given him also to serve him.