"*** JEREMIAH 14 ****" 
"Jeremiah sent to give Jehoiakim commandments and a warning The Lord said to Jeremiah , Go to the palace of Jehoiakim king of Judah and proclaim this message: Hear the word ofJehovah O"
"king of Judah, you who sit on Davids throne, you and your officials. Do what is just and right. Defend the oppressed.Do no wrong to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow and do not shed innocent blood. If you keep these commandments then kings who sit on Davids throne will continue to pass through the gates of thispalace, riding in chariots and on horses and accompanied by their officials. But if you do not obey these commands destroyers will come and burn your fine cedar panelling and your palace and this city will become a ruin. Travellers passing by will say to one another, Why has"
"Jehovah done such a thing to this great city? Judean exiles will never see their native land again Weep not for the dead king O travellers, weep for those who have been exiled for theyshall never see their native land again. 7Jehoahaz king of Judah has already gone from this place and shall never return.  King Jehoiakim rebuked for building a larger palace Woe to you Jehoiakim, you who have built your palace in unrighteousness, making your countrymen work and not paying them for their labour. You said, I shall build myself a larger palace with spacious upper rooms. So you built it with"
"large windows and panelled itwith cedar and decorated it in crimson. All went well with king Jehoiakims father Josiah because he defended the poor and needy Does it make you a better king O Jehoiakim, to have more and more cedar? Did not your father Josiah have food anddrink and do what was right and just? He defended the poor and needy so all went well with him. Is that not what it meansto know me? King Jehoiakim to suffer the shameful burial of a donkey But your heart is set on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion. I warned you when you felt secure, but"
"you said, I will not listen. This has been your way from your youth, you have not obeyed me. Therefore your people will not mourn you. You shall have the burial of a donkey, dragged away and thrown outside the gatesof Jerusalem. The Recabite family to be offered wine Then this word of the Lord came to Jeremiah : Go to the Recabite family and invite them into one of the rooms of the Temple. There offer them wine to drink. So I went to Jaazaniah and his brothers and all his sons , the whole family of the Recabites and took them into an upper room of the house of the Lord . There I set cups"
"of wine before them and said to them , Drink some wine . The Recabites refuse to drink the wine But they replied , We do not drink wine . Our forefather Jonadab , son of Recab gave us Also you must never build houses , sow seed , or plant vineyards , but must always live in tents . Then you will live many days in the land where you are staying . We have obeyed all that our forefather commanded us . Neither we nor our wives , nor our children have ever drunk wine or builthouses or had vineyards , fields or crops . We have lived in tents . But when Nebuchadnezzar invaded the land we camehere to"
"Jerusalem to escape the Babylonian armies . The Lord commends the faithfulness of the Recabites Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah . Go say to the people of Judah, Jehovah says, Will you not learn a lessonfrom the Recabites? Jonadab son of Recab commanded his sons not to drink wine and this command has been kept to this day. But I have commanded you again and again and you have not obeyed me. Therefore I am going to bring on Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, for I spoke to them but they did not listen. The Recabites blessed to serve the Lord for all time But the"
"descendants of Jonadab son of Recab shall never lack a man in my servicefor all time." 
"*** JEREMIAH 15 ****" 
"After three years Jehoiakim rebels against Nebuchadnezzar After paying tribute for three years , Jehoiakim the king rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon . Jerusalem besieged by a Babylonian army So the king of Babylon sent an army to attack Judah and lay siege to Jerusalem . King Jehoiakim dies during the siege During the siege Jehoiakim died . He had reigned eleven years in Jerusalem . Jehoiachin becomes king but also does evil His eighteen year old son Jehoiachin became"
"king . He also did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father had done . Jehoiachin and his mother cursed by Lord to die in Babylon This word of the Lord came to Jeremiah : Say to Jehoiachin king of Judah, Jehovah says, As surely as I live, even if you were a ring on my right hand I would still pull youoff. I will hurl you and your mother into another land and there you shall both die. You will never return here. I am handing youover to those whom you fear, even Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon. This man Jehoiachin is a despised broken pot, a man who shall not prosper in his days."
"Record him as childless for none of his sons will prosper and none will sit onthe throne of David. The Lord to punish Judahs uncaring and wicked shepherds Woe to the shepherds who are scattering my sheep. I Jehovah the God of Israel sayto the shepherds who tend my people, Because you have scattered my flock and not cared for them, I shall punish you foryour wickedness. The Lord to appoint righteous shepherds when he restores his people The days are coming when I will gather a remnant of my flock from the nations where I have driven them, and bring them back to their pasture. I will place"
"shepherds over them who will tend them and they will no longer fear, nor shall any be lost. A righteous King (the Messiah) to be raised up from Davids line And the day will surely come when I shall raise up from David a righteous branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the earth.  12In his day Judah and Israel will be saved and live in safety. The name by which he will be called is Jehovah the Righteous. 13In that day people will no longer say, As surely as Jehovah lives who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt but shall sayAs surely as Jehovah lives who"
"brought the descendants of Israel from the lands of the north and out of all the countries wherehe had banished them. Jeremiahs heart broken by the wickedness around him My heart is broken within me and my bones tremble . The prophets follow an evil course and use their power unjustly and theland is full of adulterers . Judah still parched and more disaster to come Because of the curse the land lies parched and withered . For the Lord says , Both prophet and priest are godless. Even in my Temple I find wickedness. Therefore I shall bring disaster on them in the year they arepunished. The"
"prophets of Samaria prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray. But Isee even worse wickedness in the prophets of Jerusalem. They commit adultery and live a lie, so that no one turns from hiswickedness. All have become like Sodom and Gomorrah to me. Jerusalems false prophets have spread ungodliness throughout the land Therefore I will punish the false prophets of Jerusalem, for from them ungodliness hasspread throughout the land. The people warned not to listen to the dreams and lies of false prophets Do not listen to what they prophesy to you. They fill you with false hope. They"
"speak visions from their own minds, notfrom my mouth. They say No harm will come to you. But which of them has stood in the council of Jehovah to hear his word? If they had stood in my council they would have proclaimed my words to my people andwould have turned them from their evil ways. I have heard what these prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. I had a dream. I had a dream. They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams,just as their fathers forgot my name for Baal. The true word of the Lord like fire Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who"
"has my wordspeak it faithfully. For what has straw in common with wheat? Is not my word like fire. Is it not like a hammer that breaks arock in pieces? I am also against prophets who steal my words from another, or use their own wordsto declare falsely. Therefore I will surely cast all of you and this city away from my presence andshall bring upon you lasting disgrace. Jehoiachin surrenders to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon While the army officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon were besieging the city , King Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to Jerusalem . Then Jehoiachin king of Judah"
"surrendered to him and Nebuchadnezzar took him prisoner . He had reigned in Jerusalem three months andten days . Nebuchadnezzar takes treasures from the Temple and palace Nebuchadnezzar removed treasures from the Temple of the Lord and afterward took them back to Babylon and put them in his Temple there . He also carried away treasures from the royal palace . THE FIRST EXILE The nobles, skilled craftsmen and army taken into exile Nebuchadnezzar then exiled to Babylon the king Jehoiachin and his mother , and his wives . Also his officials , the nobles of the land , 1000 skilled craftsmen and"
"the entire army of 7000 fighting men , a total of 10 ,000 persons . Nebuchadnezzar appoints Zedekiah king of Judah Nebuchadnezzar chose the uncle of Jehoiachin to be king in his place . His name was Mattaniahin but Nebuchadnezzar changed it to Zedekiah." 
"*** JEREMIAH 16 ****" 
"Zedekiah an un righteous king Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king and he did wrong in the eyes of the Lord just as Jehoiakim had done . 2He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet or heed the words the Lord spoke through him . Neither did his officials or the remaining people of the land . King"
"Zedekiah did however send a priest to Jeremiah with this message : Please pray to Jehovah our God for us . Jeremiahs vision of the good and bad figs After the king Jehoiachin and the nobles and craftsmen of Judah had been carried intoexile to Babylon , the Lord showed me two baskets of figs . One basket had very good figs and the other basket had bad figs . The Lord said to me , What do you see Jeremiah? I answered . Figs. The good ones are very good but the bad ones are so rotten they cannot be eaten . The good figs represent those who have gone into exile Then the Lord said , The exiles"
"from Judah whom I sent away to the land of theBabylonians are like these good figs.  My eyes shall watch over them for their good, and I shall bring them back to this land. I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord. They shall be my people for they shall return to me with all their heart. The bad figs are the rest of the people of Judah But Zedekiah and his officials and the people who remain in Judah, and those who live in Egypt are like the bad figs which are so rotten they cannot be eaten. Soon no one will be left in Judah I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the"
"earth, an object of ridicule and cursing wherever I banish them, and Iwill send the sword, famine and plague The false prophets prophesy lies So I went and declared to the priests and people of Jerusalem , Jehovah says, Heed not the false prophets who say, Very soon now the treasures from the Temple will bebrought back from Babylon. They prophesy lies to you. Serve the king of Babylon and you will live. Why shouldJerusalem become a ruin? Remaining Temple treasures also to be taken to Babylon Furthermore the bronze pillars, the large bronze basin and twelve oxen, the wheeled stands and other"
"vessels thatremain in the house of the Lord, which the king of Babylon did not take away, will also be taken to Babylon. They shall remain there until the day I restore them to this place. Jeremiah to wear a wooden yoke and prophesy to visiting envoys Early in the reign of Zedekiah the Lord said to me , Make a yoke out of straps and wooden crossbars. Wear it on your neck asyou give this message to the envoys of the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon as they come to Jerusalem to visitZedekiah king of Judah. Jehovah the God of Israel made the earth and all that is on it Jehovah Almighty"
"the God of Israel says, Tell this to your masters: With my great power I made this earth and its peopleand the animals thereon, and I give it to whoever I please. Lord has handed over all surrounding nations to Babylon I have now handed over your land to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.All the nations of this region shall serve him, and also his son and his grandson until the time of his own land is fulfilled. Then other nations and kings will overthrow Babylon.  Surrounding nations can escape exile if they serve the king of Babylon If you refuse to serve Nebuchadnezzar, I will"
"punish you with the sword, famine andplague until I destroy you by his hand. So heed not your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, yourmediums or your sorcerers when they say to you, You will not serve the king of Babylon. They are prophesying lies that will only cause you to be exiled far from your lands, where you will perish. But if you will bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I shall let you remain in your own land and tillit. The false prophecy of the prophet Hananiah In the fifth month of that same year , early in the reign of Zedekiah ,"
"as Jeremiah was wearing the wooden yoke , he heard the prophet Hananiah prophesy in the house of theLord in the presence of the priests and the people . Hananiah said , Jehovah the God of Israel says, I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon and within two years I will bring back to this Temple all the treasures thatNebuchadnezzar took to Babylon . I shall also bring back Jehoiachin king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon . Predictions of a true prophet come to pass Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah , May the Lord do so . Nevertheless , a prophet who"
"prophesies peace will be known as onesent by the Lord only if his prediction comes to pass . Hananiah breaks Jeremiahs wooden yoke At these words Hananiah seized the wooden yoke from the neck of Jeremiah andbroke it and said , Jehovah says , In this same way will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar from the neck of the nations , within two years . Nebuchadnezzar to be like a yoke of iron on the nations Shortly after Hananiah had broken the wooden yoke this word of the Lord came to Jeremiah , Go and say to Hananiah, Jehovah says, You have broken a woodenyoke, but in its place shall come a yoke"
"of iron. I will put an iron yoke on the necks of the nations and make them serveNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The Lord curses Hananiah the false prophet and he dies Then Jeremiah said to Hananiah , Jehovah has not sent you. You have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. Therefore Jehovahsays, This very year you will die for you have preached rebellion against me. In the following month Hananiah the prophet died."