Jeremiah 26

1 This message came from the Lord at the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah king of Judah,

Soon after Jehoiakim became the king of Judah, Yahweh gave [me] this message:

2 This is what the Lord says: Go and stand in the Temple courtyard and deliver the whole message I have ordered you to give to everyone who comes from all the towns of Judah to worship there. Don't leave out a single word.

“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.

3 Maybe they'll they will listen, and each of them will give up their evil ways so that I won't have to carry out the disaster I'm planning to bring down on them because of the evil things they do.

[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.

4 Tell them that this is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have given you,

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,

5 and if you don't listen to the messages of my servants the prophets—I've sent them to you time and again, but you refused to listen—

6 then I will destroy this Temple like I did Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse word used by everyone on earth.

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.’”

7 The priests and prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah deliver this message in the Lord's Temple.

[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.

8 As soon as he had finished telling everyone all that the Lord had ordered him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people grabbed him, shouting, “You'll die for this!

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!

9 How dare you claim to speak in the Lord's name here in the Temple and declare that it will be destroyed like Shiloh, and that this city will be left empty and abandoned?” Everyone crowded around Jeremiah threatening him in the Lord's Temple.

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.

10 When the leaders of Judah heard what happened they came from the king's palace to the Lord's Temple and sat at the entrance of the New Gate of the Temple to judge the case.

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].

11 The priests and prophets complained to the leaders and all the people, “This man is deserves the death penalty because he has committed treason by prophesying against this city. You heard it yourselves!”

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!”

12 Jeremiah addressed all the leaders and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to deliver every word of this prophecy against this Temple as you've heard.

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.

13 So change your ways and do what's right, and do what Lord your God tells you, so that he won't have to carry out the disaster he has announced he will bring down on you.

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.

14 As far as I'm concerned, I'm in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right.

As for me, I am not able to free myself from your grasp. [So you can] do to me whatever you want to do.

15 But be careful, because you need to be aware that if you kill me, you will make yourselves, this city, and everyone who lives here guilty of murder, because it's true that the Lord sent me to tell you everything he said.”

[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.”

16 Then the leaders and all the people told the priests and prophets, “This man doesn't deserve the death penalty because he was speaking on behalf of the Lord our God.”

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!”

17 Some of the country's elders stood up and addressed everyone gathered there.

Then some of the elders stood up and spoke to all the people who were gathered [there].

18 “Micah of Moresheth prophesied during the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah. He told all the people of Judah that this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Zion will become like a plowed field; Jerusalem will end up a pile of rubble; and the Temple mount will be overgrown with trees.’

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.’

19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in the country have him killed? Didn't Hezekiah respect the Lord and plead with him? Didn't the Lord change his mind about the disaster he had announced against them? But we are about to bring a great disaster on ourselves!”

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!”

20 At around that time there was another man prophesying in the name of the Lord, Uriah, son of Shemaiah, from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against Jerusalem and against the country just as Jeremiah did.

[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.

21 King Jehoiakim and all his military officers and officials heard what he was saying, and the king wanted to have him executed. But when Uriah found out about it, he was frightened and ran away to Egypt.

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.

22 But King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan, son of Achbor, along with some others.

Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan the son of Acbor along with several other men to Egypt.

23 They brought Uriah back from Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim. The king killed him with a sword and had his body thrown into the public graveyard.

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.

24 However, Ahikam, son of Shaphan, took Jeremiah's side so he was not handed over to the people to be killed.

However, Ahikam the son of Shaphan defended me, and persuaded the officials not to allow [MTY] the mob to murder me.