Jeremiah 26

Translated from the Hebrew of the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Tap a verse to see why it reads as it does. Tap a small letter to read its footnote.

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Jeremiah’s sermon in the temple

¹Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this message came from the LORD: ²“The LORD says this: Take your stand in the courtyard of the LORD’s house and speak to the people of all the towns of Judah who come to worship at the house of the LORD. Tell them all the words I have commanded you to speak to them; do not hold back a single word. ³Perhaps they will listen and each one will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent concerning the disaster I am planning to bring on them because of their evil deeds. ⁴Say to them, ‘The LORD says this: If you will not listen to me and walk in my instruction, which I have set before you, ⁵and listen to the words of my servants the prophets, the ones I send you again and again, though you have not listened, ⁶then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse word for all the nations of the earth.’”

Jeremiah on trial for his life

⁷The priests, the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD. ⁸As soon as Jeremiah finished saying everything the LORD had commanded him to say to all the people, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, “You must die! ⁹Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD that this house will be like Shiloh and this city will lie in ruins with no one living in it?” And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the LORD. ¹⁰The officials of Judah heard about these things, and they came up from the royal palace to the house of the LORD and took their seats at the entrance of the New Gate of the LORD’s house.

¹¹Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, “This man ought to be condemned to death. He has prophesied against this city; you heard it with your own ears.” ¹²Then Jeremiah addressed all the officials and all the people: “It was the LORD who sent me to prophesy against this house and this city, to speak all the words you have heard. ¹³So now, change your ways and your actions for the better, and obey the voice of the LORD your God. Then the LORD will relent concerning the disaster he has pronounced against you. ¹⁴As for me, look, I am in your power. Do to me what seems good and right in your eyes. ¹⁵But know this for certain: if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves, on this city and on the people who live in it, for it is true that the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words for you to hear.”

The officials refuse to condemn Jeremiah

¹⁶Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man ought not to be condemned to death, for it is in the name of the LORD our God that he has spoken to us.” ¹⁷Then some of the elders of the land stood up and spoke to the whole assembly of the people: ¹⁸“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He said to all the people of Judah, ‘The LORD of Armies says this: \q Zion will be plowed as a field, \q Jerusalem will be a mound of ruins, \q and the mountain of the temple a wooded height.’ ¹⁹Did Hezekiah king of Judah, or all Judah with him, put him to death? Did Hezekiah not fear the LORD and plead for the LORD’s favor, so that the LORD relented concerning the disaster he had pronounced against them? We are about to bring a great disaster on ourselves!” ²⁰Another man, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim, was also prophesying in the name of the LORD. Against this city and this land he prophesied words just like Jeremiah’s. ²¹When King Jehoiakim and all his warriors and all the officials heard what he said, the king tried to have him put to death. But Uriah heard of it, and he was afraid and fled to Egypt. ²²But King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan son of Achbor and others with him went to Egypt. ²³They brought Uriah back from Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who struck him down with the sword and threw his body into the burial ground of the common people. ²⁴But Ahikam son of Shaphan stood behind Jeremiah, so Jeremiah was not given into the people’s hands to be put to death.