Jeremiah 27; Jeremiah 28; Jeremiah 29; Titus 3

1 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah soon after Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah.

2 This is what the Lord said to me: "Make a yoke out of straps and poles, and put it on the back of your neck.

3 Then send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon by their messengers who have come to Jerusalem to see Zedekiah king of Judah.

4 Tell them to give this message to their masters: 'The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: "Tell your masters:

5 I made the earth, its people, and all its animals with my great power and strength. I can give the earth to anyone I want.

6 Now I have given all these lands to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant. I will make even the wild animals obey him.

7 All nations will serve Nebuchadnezzar and his son and grandson. Then the time will come for Babylon to be defeated, and many nations and great kings will make Babylon their servant.

8 "' "But if some nations or kingdoms refuse to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and refuse to be under his control, I will punish them with war, hunger, and terrible diseases, says the Lord. I will use Nebuchadnezzar to destroy them.

9 So don't listen to your false prophets, those who use magic to tell the future, those who explain dreams, the mediums, or magicians. They all tell you, 'You will not be slaves to the king of Babylon.'

10 They are telling you lies that will cause you to be taken far from your homeland. I will force you to leave your homes, and you will die in another land.

11 But the nations who put themselves under the control of the king of Babylon and serve him I will let stay in their own country, says the Lord. The people from those nations will live in their own land and farm it."' "

12 I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah. I said, "Put yourself under the control of the king of Babylon and serve him, and you will live.

13 Why should you and your people die from war, hunger, or disease, as the Lord said would happen to those who do not serve the king of Babylon?

14 But the false prophets are saying, 'You will never be slaves to the king of Babylon.' Don't listen to them because they are prophesying lies to you!

15 'I did not send them,' says the Lord. 'They are prophesying lies and saying the message is from me. So I will send you away, Judah. And you and those prophets who prophesy to you will die.'"

16 Then I, Jeremiah, said to the priests and all the people, "This is what the Lord says: Those false prophets are saying, 'The Babylonians will soon return what they took from the Temple of the Lord.' Don't listen to them! They are prophesying lies to you.

17 Don't listen to those prophets. But serve the king of Babylon, and you will live. There is no reason for you to cause Jerusalem to become a ruin.

18 If they are prophets and have the message from the Lord, let them pray to the Lord All-Powerful. Let them ask that the items which are still in the Temple of the Lord and in the king's palace and in Jerusalem not be taken away to Babylon.

19 "This is what the Lord All-Powerful says about those items left in Jerusalem: the pillars, the large bronze bowl, which is called the Sea, the stands that can be moved, and other things.

20 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take these away when he took as captives Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other important people from Judah and Jerusalem to Babylon.

21 This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says about the items left in the Temple of the Lord and in the king's palace and in Jerusalem:

22 'All of them will also be taken to Babylon. And they will stay there until the day I go to get them,' says the Lord. 'Then I will bring them back and return them to this place.'"

1 It was in that same year, in the fifth month of Zedekiah's fourth year as king of Judah, soon after he began to rule. The prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, from the town of Gibeon, spoke to me in the Temple of the Lord in front of the priests and all the people. He said:

2 "The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: 'I have broken the yoke the king of Babylon has put on Judah.

3 Before two years are over, I will bring back everything that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took to Babylon from the Lord's Temple.

4 I will also bring back Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other captives from Judah who went to Babylon,' says the Lord. 'So I will break the yoke the king of Babylon put on Judah.'"

5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in front of the priests and all the people who were standing in the Temple of the Lord.

6 He said, "Amen! Let the Lord really do that! May the Lord make the message you prophesy come true. May he bring back here everything from the Lord's Temple and all the people who were taken as captives to Babylon.

7 "But listen to what I am going to say to you and all the people.

8 There were prophets long before we became prophets, Hananiah. They prophesied that war, hunger, and terrible diseases would come to many countries and great kingdoms.

9 But if a prophet prophesies that we will have peace and that message comes true, he can be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord."

10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off Jeremiah's neck and broke it.

11 Hananiah said in front of all the people, "This is what the Lord says: 'In the same way I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He put that yoke on all the nations of the world, but I will break it before two years are over.'" After Hananiah had said that, Jeremiah left the Temple.

12 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off of the prophet Jeremiah's neck.

13 The Lord said, "Go and tell Hananiah, 'This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but I will make a yoke of iron in its place!

14 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: I will put a yoke of iron on the necks of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will be slaves to him. I will even give Nebuchadnezzar control over the wild animals.'"

15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, "Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you, and you have made the people of Judah trust in lies.

16 So this is what the Lord says: 'Soon I will remove you from the earth. You will die this year, because you taught the people to turn against the Lord.'"

17 Hananiah died in the seventh month of that same year.

1 This is the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the older leaders who were among the captives, the priests, and the prophets. He sent it to all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had taken as captives from Jerusalem to Babylon.

2 (This letter was sent after all these people were taken away: Jehoiachin the king and the queen mother; the officers and leaders of Judah and Jerusalem; and the craftsmen and metalworkers from Jerusalem.)

3 Zedekiah king of Judah sent Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. So Jeremiah gave them this letter to carry to Babylon:

4 This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says to all those people I sent away from Jerusalem as captives to Babylon:

5 "Build houses and settle in the land. Plant gardens and eat the food they grow.

6 Get married and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons, and let your daughters be married so they also may have sons and daughters. Have many children in Babylon; don't become fewer in number.

7 Also do good things for the city where I sent you as captives. Pray to the Lord for the city where you are living, because if good things happen in the city, good things will happen to you also."

8 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: "Don't let the prophets among you and the people who do magic fool you. Don't listen to their dreams.

9 They are prophesying lies to you, saying that their message is from me. But I did not send them," says the Lord.

10 This is what the Lord says: "Babylon will be powerful for seventy years. After that time I will come to you, and I will keep my promise to bring you back to Jerusalem.

11 I say this because I know what I am planning for you," says the Lord. "I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.

12 Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13 You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me!

14 I will let you find me," says the Lord. "And I will bring you back from your captivity. I forced you to leave this place, but I will gather you from all the nations, from the places I have sent you as captives," says the Lord. "And I will bring you back to this place."

15 You might say, "The Lord has given us prophets here in Babylon."

16 But the Lord says this about the king who is sitting on David's throne now and all the other people still in Jerusalem, your relatives who did not go as captives to Babylon with you.

17 The Lord All-Powerful says: "I will soon send war, hunger, and terrible diseases against those still in Jerusalem. I will make them like bad figs that are too rotten to eat.

18 I will chase them with war, hunger, and terrible diseases. I will make them hated by all the kingdoms of the earth. People will curse them and be shocked and will use them as a shameful example wherever I make them go.

19 This is because they have not listened to my message," says the Lord. "I sent my message to them again and again through my servants, the prophets, but they did not listen," says the Lord.

20 You captives, whom I forced to leave Jerusalem and go to Babylon, listen to the message from the Lord.

21 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says this about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah: "These two men have been prophesying lies to you, saying that their message is from me. But soon I will hand over those two prophets to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them in front of you.

22 Because of them, all the captives from Judah in Babylon will use this curse: 'May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.'

23 They have done evil things among the people of Israel. They are guilty of adultery with their neighbors' wives. They have also spoken lies and said those lies were a message from me. I did not tell them to do that. I know what they have done; I am a witness to it," says the Lord.

24 Also give a message to Shemaiah from the Nehelamite family.

25 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: "Shemaiah, you sent letters in your name to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests.

26 You said to Zephaniah, 'The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada. You are to be in charge of the Temple of the Lord. You should arrest any madman who acts like a prophet. Lock his hands and feet between wooden blocks, and put iron rings around his neck.

27 Now Jeremiah from Anathoth is acting like a prophet. So why haven't you arrested him?

28 Jeremiah has sent this message to us in Babylon: You will be there for a long time, so build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they grow.'"

29 Zephaniah the priest read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet.

30 Then the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah:

31 "Send this message to all the captives in Babylon: 'This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Shemaiah has prophesied to you, but I did not send him. He has made you believe a lie.

32 So the Lord says, I will soon punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his family. He will not see the good things I will do for my people, says the Lord. None of his family will be left alive among the people, because he has taught the people to turn against me.'"

1 Remind the believers to yield to the authority of rulers and government leaders, to obey them, to be ready to do good,

2 to speak no evil about anyone, to live in peace, and to be gentle and polite to all people.

3 In the past we also were foolish. We did not obey, we were wrong, and we were slaves to many things our bodies wanted and enjoyed. We spent our lives doing evil and being jealous. People hated us, and we hated each other.

4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior was shown,

5 he saved us because of his mercy. It was not because of good deeds we did to be right with him. He saved us through the washing that made us new people through the Holy Spirit.

6 God poured out richly upon us that Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Savior.

7 Being made right with God by his grace, we could have the hope of receiving the life that never ends.

8 This teaching is true, and I want you to be sure the people understand these things. Then those who believe in God will be careful to use their lives for doing good. These things are good and will help everyone.

9 But stay away from those who have foolish arguments and talk about useless family histories and argue and quarrel about the law. Those things are worth nothing and will not help anyone.

10 After a first and second warning, avoid someone who causes arguments.

11 You can know that such people are evil and sinful; their own sins prove them wrong.

12 When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to stay there this winter.

13 Do all you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey so that they have everything they need.

14 Our people must learn to use their lives for doing good deeds to provide what is necessary so that their lives will not be useless.

15 All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.