Jeremiah 26

¹In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord

²“Thus says the Lord

³Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.’

⁴And you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord

⁵to heed the words of My servants the prophets whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not heeded),

⁶then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”

⁷So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord

⁸Now it happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord

⁹Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord

¹⁰When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord

¹¹And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and all the people, saying, “This man deserves to die! For he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.”

¹²Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying: “The Lord

¹³Now therefore, amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord

¹⁴As for me, here I am, in your hand; do with me as seems good and proper to you.

¹⁵But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for truly the Lord

¹⁶So the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve to die. For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord

¹⁷Then certain of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying:

¹⁸“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord “Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest.” ’

¹⁹Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord

²⁰Now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord

²¹And 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 to Egypt.

²²Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor, and other men who went with him to Egypt.

²³And they brought Urijah from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.

²⁴Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.