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Chapter 26 |
| 1 | In the
beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this
word from the LORD, saying, |
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2 | Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court
of the LORD's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to
worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto
them; diminish not a word: |
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3 | If so be they will hearken, and turn
every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose
to do unto them because of the evil of their doings. |
| 4 | 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, |
| 5 | To hearken to the words of my
servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending
them, but ye have not hearkened; |
| 6 | Then will I make this house
like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the
earth. |
| 7 |
So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard
Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD. |
| 8 | 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. |
| 9 | 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. |
| 10 | When the
princes 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. |
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11 | 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. |
| 12 | 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. |
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13 | 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. |
| 14 | As for me, behold, I am in
your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. |
| 15 | But know
ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye 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. |
| 16 |
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. |
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17 | Then rose up certain of the elders of
the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying, |
| 18 |
Micah the Morasthite 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 plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the
mountain of the house as the high places of a forest. |
| 19 | 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. |
| 20
| And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of
the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against
this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.
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| 21 | 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 Urijah
heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt; |
| 22 | And
Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and
certain men with him into Egypt. |
| 23 | And they fetched forth Urijah
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. |
| 24 |
Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they
should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death. |
