Jeremiah Threatened with Death

¹tIn the beginning of the reign of uJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: ²“Thus says the Lord: vStand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord wall the words that I command you to speak to them; xdo not hold back a word. ³yIt may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, zthat I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them abecause of their evil deeds. ⁴You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: bIf you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, ⁵cand to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you curgently, cthough you have not listened, ⁶then I will make this house dlike Shiloh, and I will make this city ea curse for all the nations of the earth.’”

⁷fThe priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. ⁸And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then fthe priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! ⁹Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be dlike Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, gwithout inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

¹⁰When hthe officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of the Lord and took their seat in the ientry of the New Gate of the house of the Lord. ¹¹Then fthe priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, j“This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”

¹²Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. ¹³Now therefore kmend your ways and your deeds, land obey the voice of the Lord your God, zand the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. ¹⁴mBut as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. ¹⁵Only know for certain that if you put me to death, nyou will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

Jeremiah Spared from Death

¹⁶oThen the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, p“This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” ¹⁷qAnd certain of rthe elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, ¹⁸“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts,

s“‘Zion shall be plowed as a field;

Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,

and the mountain of the house a wooded height.’

¹⁹Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? tDid he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, uand did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? vBut we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.”

²⁰There was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from wKiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah. ²¹And when xKing Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt. ²²Then xKing Jehoiakim sent to Egypt certain men, yElnathan the son of zAchbor and others with him, ²³and they took Uriah from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, awho struck him down with the sword and dumped his dead body into the burial place of the common people.

²⁴But the hand of bAhikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he was not given over to the people to be put to death.