Holman Christian Standard Bible (229 page)

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A Warning for the People
8
 “But you must say to this people, ‘This is what the
Lord
says: Look, I am presenting to you the way of life and the way of death. 
9
 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and will retain his life like the spoils of war. 
10
 For I have turned against this city to bring disaster and not good' ” — this is the
Lord
's declaration. “ ‘It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, who will burn it down.' 
11
 “And to the house of the king of Judah say this: ‘Hear the word of the
Lord
!
12
 House of David, this is what the
Lord
says:
Administer justice every morning,
and rescue the victim of robbery
from the hand of his oppressor, 
or My anger will flare up like fire
and burn unquenchably
because of their evil deeds.
13
 Beware! I am against you, 
you who sit above the valley,
you atop the rocky plateau —
this is the 
Lord
's declaration —
you who say, “Who can come down against us? 
Who can enter our hiding places? ”
14
 I will punish you according to what you have done  —
this is the 
Lord
's declaration.
I will kindle a fire in its forest 
that will consume everything around it.' ” 
Jeremiah
Judgment against Sinful Kings
22
This is what the
Lord
says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and announce this word there.
2
 You are to say: Hear the word of the
Lord
, king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David — you, your officers, and your people who enter these gates.
3
 This is what the
Lord
says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Don't exploit or brutalize the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don't shed innocent blood in this place.
4
 For if you conscientiously carry out this word, then kings sitting on David's throne will enter through the gates of this palace riding on chariots and horses — they, their officers, and their people.
5
 But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by Myself” — this is the
Lord
's declaration — “that this house will become a ruin.” 
6
 For this is what the
Lord
says concerning the house of the king of Judah:
You are like Gilead to Me,
or the summit of Lebanon,
but I will certainly turn you into a wilderness,
uninhabited cities.
7
 I will appoint destroyers against you,
each with his weapons.
They will cut down the choicest of your cedars
and throw them into the fire.
8
 “Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why did the
Lord
do such a thing to this great city? '
9
 They will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of
•Yahweh
their God and worshiped and served other gods.' ” 
A Message Concerning Shallum
10
 Do not weep for the dead;
do not mourn for him.
Weep bitterly for the one who has gone away,
for he will never return again
and see his native land.
11
 For this is what the
Lord
says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah: “He has left this place — he will never return here again,
12
 but he will die in the place where they deported him, never seeing this land again.”
A Message concerning Jehoiakim
13
 Woe for the one who builds his palace
through unrighteousness, 
his upper rooms through injustice,
who makes his fellow man serve without pay
and will not give him his wages, 
14
 who says, “I will build myself a massive palace,
with spacious upper rooms.”
He will cut windows in it,
and it will be paneled with cedar
and painted with vermilion.
15
 Are you a king because you excel in cedar?
Didn't your father eat and drink
and administer justice and righteousness? 
Then it went well with him.
16
 He took up the case of the poor and needy,
then it went well.
Is this not what it means to know Me?
This is the 
Lord
's declaration.
17
 But you have eyes and a heart for nothing
except your own dishonest profit,
shedding innocent blood
and committing extortion and oppression.
18
 Therefore, this is what the
Lord
says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
They will not mourn for him, saying,
“Woe, my brother! ” or “Woe, my sister! ”
They will not mourn for him, saying,
“Woe, lord! Woe, his majesty! ”
19
 He will be buried like a donkey, 
dragged off and thrown
outside the gates of Jerusalem.
20
 Go up to Lebanon and cry out;
raise your voice in Bashan;
cry out from Abarim, 
for all your lovers have been crushed. 
21
 I spoke to you when you were secure.
You said, “I will not listen.”
This has been your way since youth; 
indeed, you have never listened to Me.
22
 The wind will take charge of  all your shepherds,
and your lovers will go into captivity.
Then you will be ashamed and humiliated 
because of all your evil.
23
 You residents of Lebanon,
nestled among the cedars,
how you will groan when labor pains come on you,
agony like a woman in labor. 
A Message concerning Coniah
24
 “As I live,” says the
Lord
, “though you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would tear you from it.
25
 In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread, who want to take your life, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans.
26
 I will hurl you and the mother who gave birth to you into another land, where neither of you were born, and there you will both die.
27
 They will never return to the land they long to return to.”
28
 Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered pot, 
a jar no one wants?
Why are he and his descendants hurled out
and cast into a land they have not known?
29
 Earth, earth, earth,
hear the word of the 
Lord
!
30
 This is what the
Lord
says:
Record this man as childless, 
a man who will not be successful in his lifetime.
None of his descendants will succeed
in sitting on the throne of David 
or ruling again in Judah.
Jeremiah
The
Lord
and His Sheep
23
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! ” This is the
Lord
's declaration.
2
 “Therefore, this is what the
Lord
, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd My people: You have scattered My flock, banished them, and have not attended to them. I will attend to you because of your evil acts” — this is the
Lord
's declaration.
3
 “I will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands where I have banished them, and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous. 
4
 I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them. They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any be missing.” This is the
Lord
's declaration.
The Righteous Branch of David
5
 “The days are coming”  — this is the 
Lord
's declaration —
“when I will raise up a Righteous Branch of David. 
He will reign wisely as king
and administer justice and righteousness in the land. 
6
 In His days Judah will be saved,
and Israel will dwell securely. 
This is what He will be named:
•Yahweh
 Our Righteousness. 
7
 “The days are coming” — the
Lord
's declaration — “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the
Lord
lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,' 
8
 but, ‘As the
Lord
lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other countries where I had banished them.' They will dwell once more in their own land.” 
False Prophets Condemned
9
 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me, 
and all my bones tremble.
I have become like a drunkard,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the 
Lord
,
because of His holy words.
10
 For the land is full of adulterers; 
the land mourns because of the curse,
and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up.
Their way of life has become evil,
and their power is not rightly used
11
 because both prophet and priest are ungodly, 
even in My house I have found their evil.
This is the 
Lord
's declaration.
12
 Therefore, their way will be to them
like slippery paths in the gloom. 
They will be driven away and fall down there,
for I will bring disaster on them,
the year of their punishment.
This is the 
Lord
's declaration.
13
 Among the prophets of Samaria
I saw something disgusting:
They prophesied by  
•Baal
and led My people Israel astray. 
14
 Among the prophets of Jerusalem also
I saw a horrible thing:
They commit adultery and walk in lies.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
and none turns his back on evil.
They are all like Sodom to Me;
Jerusalem's residents are like Gomorrah.
15
 Therefore, this is what the
Lord
of
•Hosts
says concerning the prophets:
I am about to feed them 
•wormwood
and give them poisoned water to drink, 
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has spread throughout the land.
16
 This is what the
Lord
of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are making you worthless. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the
Lord
's mouth.
17
 They keep on saying to those who despise Me, ‘The
Lord
has said: You will have peace.' They have said to everyone who follows the stubbornness of his heart, ‘No harm will come to you.' ”
18
 For who has stood in the council of the 
Lord
to see and hear His word?
Who has paid attention to His word and obeyed?
19
 Look, a storm from the 
Lord

Wrath has gone out,
a whirling storm.
It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.
20
 The
Lord
's anger will not turn back
until He has completely fulfilled the purposes of His heart.
In time to come you will understand it clearly. 
21
 I did not send these prophets, 
yet they ran with a message.
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
22
 If they had really stood in My council,
they would have enabled My people to hear My words
and would have turned them back from their evil ways
and their evil deeds.
23
 “Am I a God who is only near”  — this is the
Lord
's declaration — “and not a God who is far away?
24
 Can a man hide himself in secret places where I cannot see him? ”  — the
Lord
's declaration. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? ”  — the
Lord
's declaration.

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