Jeremiah 26
1 Soon after Jehoiakim became the king of Judah, Yahweh gave [me] this message:
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, this word came from Yahweh, saying,
2 “This is what [I], Yahweh, am telling you: Stand in the courtyard [in front] of my temple, and speak to all [the people from] the various towns in Judah who come there to worship me. Tell them everything that I tell you; do not omit anything.
“Yahweh says this: Stand in the courtyard of my house and speak about all the cities of Judah who come to worship at my house. Proclaim all the words that I have commanded you to say to them. Do not cut short any word!
3 [If you do tell them everything], perhaps they will pay attention, and each one of them will turn away from his evil behavior. Then I will change my mind, and not cause them to experience the disaster that I was planning to cause them to experience because of the evil things that they have done.
It may be that they will listen, that each man will turn from his wicked ways, so I will relent concerning the disaster that I am planning to bring on them because of the wickedness of their practices.
4 Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh says: I sent to you the prophets who serve me, to tell you what you should do. I sent them to you many times, but you have not paid attention to what they said. If you will not pay attention to what I say and do not obey the message that I have given to you, and if you do not pay attention to what the prophets say,
So you must say to them, 'Yahweh says this: If you do not listen to me so as to walk in my law that I have placed before you—
if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I am persistently sending to you—but you have not listened!—
6 I will destroy this temple like I destroyed Shiloh, [the place where the Sacred Tent was put]. And I will cause Jerusalem to be a place whose name [people in] every nation on the earth will say when they curse someone.’”
then I will make this house like Shiloh; I will turn this city into a curse in the sight of all the nations on earth.'”
7 [When I did what Yahweh told me to do, ] the priests, the [false] prophets, and many [other] people listened to me as I told them that message outside the temple.
The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah announcing these words in Yahweh's house.
8 But as soon as I finished telling them everything that Yahweh had commanded me to say, they all seized me and said, “You must be executed!
So it happened that when Jeremiah had finished announcing all that Yahweh commanded him to say to all the people, the priests, prophets, and all the people seized him and said, “You will certainly die!
9 Why [RHQ] are you prophesying that this temple will be [destroyed] like Shiloh [was destroyed]? Why are you saying that this city will be destroyed, and that no one will live here [any more]? (OR, You should not be prophesying) [RHQ]” All the people surrounded me [as I stood] in [front of] the temple.
Why have you prophesied in Yahweh's name and said that this house will become like Shiloh and this city will become desolate, with no inhabitant?” For all the people had formed a mob against Jeremiah in Yahweh's house.
10 When the officials of Judah heard about all this [that was happening], they rushed from the palace and sat down at the gate of the temple named The New Gate, [to judge my case].
Then the officials of Judah heard these words and went up from the king's house to Yahweh's house. They sat in the gateway at the New Gate of Yahweh's house.
11 The priests and the [false] told the officials and the other people [who were there], “This man should be executed, because he has prophesied that this city [will be destroyed], and you yourselves [MTY] have heard him say that!”
The priests and the prophets spoke to the officials and to all the people. They said, “It is right for this man to die, for he prophesied against this city, just as you heard with your own ears!”
12 Then I replied to the officials and the other people, saying, “Yahweh sent me to prophesy all the things that you heard me say about [what will happen to] this temple and this city.
So Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people and said, “Yahweh has sent me out to prophesy against this house and this city, to say all the words that you have heard.
13 But if you change your behavior and stop sinning, and [start to] obey Yahweh our God, he will change his mind, and not cause you to experience the disasters that he said that he would send.
So now, improve your ways and your practices, and listen to the voice of Yahweh your God so that he will relent concerning the disaster that he has proclaimed against you.
14 As for me, I am not able to free myself from your grasp. [So you can] do to me whatever you want to do.
I myself—look at me!—am in your hand. Do to me what is good and right in your eyes.
15 [But you need to] know that if you kill me, you will be killing a man [SYN] who (is innocent/has not done anything wrong). And you and everyone else in this city will be guilty, because the truth is that it was Yahweh who sent me to speak every word that you have heard me say.”
But you must surely know that if you kill me, then you are bringing innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and its inhabitants, for Yahweh has truly sent me to you to proclaim all these words for your ears.”
16 Then the officials and the other people said to the priests and the [false] prophets, “This man does not deserve to be executed, because he has spoken to us the message [MTY] that Yahweh gave him!”
Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and prophets, “It is not right for this man to die, for he has proclaimed things to us in the name of Yahweh our God.”
17 Then some of the elders stood up and spoke to all the people who were gathered [there].
Then men from the elders of the land rose up and spoke to the entire assembly of the people.
18 They said, “([Remember/Think about) what] Micah, [the prophet] from Moresheth [town], prophesied during the years that Hezekiah was the King of Judah. He told the people of Judah this: ‘This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says: [Some day] Zion [Hill] will be plowed like fields [are plowed]; Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins. There will be a large clump/group of trees on top of the hill where the temple is now.’
They said, “Micah the Morashite was prophesying in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He spoke to all the people of Judah and said, 'Yahweh of hosts says this: Zion will become a plowed field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the hill of the temple will become a thicket.'
19 But did [RHQ] King Hezekiah or anyone else in Judah kill Micah [for saying that]? No! Instead, Hezekiah revered Yahweh, and pleaded that he would (act mercifully toward/not destroy) them. So, Yahweh changed his mind about causing them to experience the terrible disaster that he said he would send. And now [if we kill Jeremiah], we are going to cause ourselves to experience a terrible disaster!”
Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all of Judah put him to death? Did he not fear Yahweh and appease the face of Yahweh so that Yahweh would relent concerning the disaster that he proclaimed to them? So will we do greater evil against our own lives?”
20 [At that time, ] the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-Jearim [city] was also prophesying/proclaiming messages [MTY] from Yahweh. He was predicting that the city and the rest of the land would experience the same disasters that I was predicting.
Meanwhile there was another man who prophesied in the name of Yahweh—Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim—he also prophesied against this city and this land, agreeing with all of Jeremiah's words.
21 When King Jehoiakim and his army officers and officials heard what Uriah was saying, the king sent someone to kill Uriah. But Uriah heard about it, and became [very] afraid, and he (escaped/ran away) to Egypt.
But when King Jehoiakim and all his soldiers and officials heard his word, then the king tried to put him to death, but Uriah heard and was afraid, so he ran away and went to Egypt.
22 Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan the son of Acbor along with several other men to Egypt.
Then King Jehoiakim sent out men to go to Egypt—Elnathan son of Akbor and men to go into Egypt after Uriah.
23 They captured Uriah and took him [back to Jerusalem] to King Jehoiakim. The king then [had a soldier] kill Uriah with a sword. Then they buried his corpse in a place where poor people are buried.
They took Uriah out from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim. Then Jehoiakim killed him with a sword and sent his corpse out to the graves of the ordinary people.
24 However, Ahikam the son of Shaphan defended me, and persuaded the officials not to allow [MTY] the mob to murder me.
But the hand of Ahikam son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so he was not given into the hand of the people to be put to death.
