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āāJeremiah 26:1-24 MSGā¬ā¬
[1] At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this Message came from God to Jeremiah: [2-3] āGodās Message: Stand in the court of Godās Temple and preach to the people who come from all over Judah to worship in Godās Temple. Say everything I tell you to say to them. Donāt hold anything back. Just maybe theyāll listen and turn back from their bad lives. Then Iāll reconsider the disaster that Iām planning to bring on them because of their evil behavior. [4-6] āSay to them, āThis is Godās Message: If you refuse to listen to me and live by my teaching that Iāve revealed so plainly to you, and if you continue to refuse to listen to my servants the prophets that I tirelessly keep on sending to youābut youāve never listened! Why would you start now?āthen Iāll make this Temple a pile of ruins like Shiloh, and Iāll make this city nothing but a bad joke worldwide.āā [7-9] Everybody thereāpriests, prophets, and peopleāheard Jeremiah preaching this Message in the Temple of God. When Jeremiah had finished his sermon, saying everything God had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and people all grabbed him, yelling, āDeath! Youāre going to die for this! How dare you preachāand using Godās name!āsaying that this Temple will become a heap of rubble like Shiloh and this city be wiped out without a soul left in it!ā All the people mobbed Jeremiah right in the Temple itself. * * * [10] Officials from the royal court of Judah were told of this. They left the palace immediately and came to Godās Temple to investigate. They held court on the spot, at the New Gate entrance to Godās Temple. [11] The prophets and priests spoke first, addressing the officials, but also the people: āDeath to this man! He deserves nothing less than death! He has preached against this cityāyouāve heard the evidence with your own ears.ā [12-13] Jeremiah spoke next, publicly addressing the officials before the crowd: āGod sent me to preach against both this Temple and city everything thatās been reported to you. So do something about it! Change the way youāre living, change your behavior. Listen obediently to the Message of your God. Maybe God will reconsider the disaster he has threatened. [14-15] āAs for me, Iām at your mercyādo whatever you think is best. But take warning: If you kill me, youāre killing an innocent man, and you and the city and the people in it will be liable. I didnāt say any of this on my own. God sent me and told me what to say. Youāve been listening to God speak, not Jeremiah.ā [16] The court officials, backed by the people, then handed down their ruling to the priests and prophets: āAcquittal. No death sentence for this man. He has spoken to us with the authority of our God.ā [17-18] Then some of the respected leaders stood up and addressed the crowd: āIn the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah, Micah of Moresheth preached to the people of Judah this sermon: This is God-of-the-Angel-Armiesā Message for you: āāBecause of people like you, Zion will be turned back into farmland, Jerusalem end up as a pile of rubble, and instead of the Temple on the mountain, a few scraggly scrub pines.ā [19] āDid King Hezekiah or anyone else in Judah kill Micah of Moresheth because of that sermon? Didnāt Hezekiah honor him and pray for mercy from God? And then didnāt God call off the disaster he had threatened? āFriends, weāre at the brink of bringing a terrible calamity upon ourselves.ā * * * [20-23] (At another time there had been a man, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim, who had preached similarly in the name of God. He preached against this same city and country just as Jeremiah did. When King Jehoiakim and his royal court heard his sermon, they determined to kill him. Uriah, afraid for his life, went into hiding in Egypt. King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Achbor with a posse of men after him. They brought him back from Egypt and presented him to the king. And the king had him killed. They dumped his body unceremoniously outside the city. [24] But in Jeremiahās case, Ahikam son of Shaphan stepped forward and took his side, preventing the mob from lynching him.)

