Chapter 26.
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of
Judah, came this word from the Lord, saying,
I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.
And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, If ye will not hearken to me to
walk in my law, which I have set before you, to hearken to the words of my
servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early and sending
them, which ye have not hearkened, then will I make this house like Shiloh,
and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
So the priests and the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house
of the Lord.
Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord
had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets
and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, This house shall be like
Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant.
And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.
When the princess of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's
house unto the house of the Lord, and sat down in the entry of the new gate
of the Lord's house.
Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people,
saying, This man is worthy to die, for he hath prophesied against this city,
as ye have heard with your ears.
Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying,
The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words
that ye have heard.
Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord
your God, and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against
you.
As for me, behold, I am in your hand.
Do with me as seemeth good, and meet unto you.
But know ye for certain that if ye put me to death, you shall surely bring innocent
blood upon yourselves and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof.
For of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.
Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets,
This man is not worthy to die, for he hath spoken to us in the name of
the Lord our God.
Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the
people, saying, Micah the Moresthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of
Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of
hosts, Zion shall be ploughed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps,
and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death?
Did he not fear the Lord and besought the Lord?
And the Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them.
Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.
And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah,
the son of Shimea, of Kiajath-jerim, who prophesied against this city and
against this land, according to all the words of Jeremiah.
And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes,
heard his words, the king sought to put him to death.
But when Uriah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went into Egypt.
And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely El Nathan, the son of
Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.
And they fetched forth Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king,
who slew him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common
people.
Nevertheless, the hand of Jehoiakim, the son of Shaphan, was with Jeremiah,
that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.