Genesis to Revelation Bible
Reading Plan
August 28
Jeremiah 33-36
Chapter 33
Restoration Promised
1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still
confined in the court of the guard, saying,
2 “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to
establish it, the Lord is His name,
3 ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and
mighty things, which you do not know.’
4 “For thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the houses of this
city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah which are broken down to
make a defense against the siege ramps and against the sword,
5 ‘While they are coming to fight with the Chaldeans and to fill them
with the corpses of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath, and I
have hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness:
6 ‘Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them;
and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth.
7 ‘I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel
and will rebuild them as they were at first.
8 ‘I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned
against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned
against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me.
9 ‘It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the
nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and
they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I
make for it.’
10 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place,
of which you say, “It is a waste, without man and without beast,” that
is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate,
without man and without inhabitant and without beast,
11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom
and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say,
“
Give thanks to the Lord of hosts,
For the Lord is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting”;
and of those who bring a thank offering into the house of the Lord. For I will
restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ says the Lord.
12 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘There will again be in this place
which is waste, without man or beast, and in all its cities, a habitation
of shepherds who rest their flocks.
13 ‘In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland,
in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem
and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the
one who numbers them,’ says the Lord.
The Davidic Kingdom
14 ‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I
will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
15 ‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of
David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the
earth.
16 ‘In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety;
and this is the name by which she will be called: the Lord is our righteousness.’
17 “For thus says the Lord, ‘David shall never lack a man to
sit on the throne of the house of Israel;
18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt
offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually.’ ”
19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
20 “Thus says the Lord, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day
and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed
time,
21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will
not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers.
22 ‘As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea
cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant
and the Levites who minister to Me.’ ”
23 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
24 “Have you not observed what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The
two families which the Lord chose, He has rejected them’? Thus they
despise My people, no longer are they as a nation in their sight.
25 “Thus says the Lord, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand
not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established,
26 then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not
taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.’ ”
Chapter
34
A Prophecy against Zedekiah
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon and all his army, with all the kingdoms of the earth that were
under
his dominion and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against
all its cities, saying,
2 “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Go and speak to Zedekiah
king of Judah and say to him: “Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am
giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it
with fire.
3 ‘You will not escape from his hand, for you will surely be captured
and delivered into his hand; and you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye,
and he will speak with you face to face, and you will go to Babylon.’ ” ’
4 “Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the
Lord concerning you, ‘You will not die by the sword.
5 ‘You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the
former kings who were before you, so they will burn spices for you; and they
will lament for you, “Alas, lord!” ’ For I have spoken the
word,” declares the Lord.
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah
in Jerusalem
7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against
all the remaining cities of Judah, that is, Lachish and Azekah, for they
alone remained as fortified cities among the cities of Judah.
8 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made
a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim release
to them:
9 that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant,
a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman; so that no one should keep them, a Jew
his brother, in bondage.
10 And all the officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the
covenant that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female
servant, so that no one should keep them any longer in bondage; they obeyed,
and set them free.
11 But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the
female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection for
male servants
and for female servants.
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
13 “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘I made a covenant with your
forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the
house of bondage, saying,
14 “At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother
who has been sold to you and has served you six years, you shall send him out
free from you; but your forefathers did not obey Me or incline their ear to
Me.
15 “Although recently you had turned and done what is right in My sight,
each man proclaiming release to his neighbor, and you had made a covenant
before Me in the house which is called by My name.
16 “Yet you turned and profaned My name, and each man took back his
male servant and each man his female servant whom you had set free according
to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male servants
and female servants.” ’
17 “Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming
release each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am
proclaiming a release to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to the sword,
to the pestilence and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the
kingdoms of the earth.
18 ‘I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not
fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut
the calf in two and passed between its parts—
19 the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers
and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts
of the calf—
20 I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those
who seek their life. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of
the sky and the beasts of the earth.
21 ‘Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand
of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the
hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has gone away from you.
22 ‘Behold, I am going to command,’ declares the Lord, ‘and
I will bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it and take
it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation
without inhabitant.’ ”
Chapter 35
The Rechabites’ Obedience
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim
the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,
2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them
into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to
drink.”
3 Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers
and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites,
4 and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons
of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber
of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum,
the
doorkeeper.
5 Then I set before the men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full
of wine and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine!”
6 But they said, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab,
our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall not drink wine, you or your
sons, forever.
7 ‘You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed and you shall
not plant a vineyard or own one; but in tents you shall dwell all your days,
that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’
8 “We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father,
in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our
sons or our daughters,
9 nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; and we do not have vineyard
or field or seed.
10 “We have only dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and have done according
to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
11 “But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land,
we said, ‘Come and let us go to Jerusalem before the army of the Chaldeans
and before the army of the Arameans.’ So we have dwelt in Jerusalem.”
Judah Rebuked
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
13 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Go and say to
the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive
instruction by listening to My words?” declares the Lord.
14 “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons
not to drink wine, are observed. So they do not drink wine to this day, for they
have obeyed their father’s command. But I have spoken to you again
and again; yet you have not listened to Me.
15 “Also I have sent to you all My servants the prophets, sending them
again and again, saying: ‘Turn now every man from his evil way and
amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to worship them. Then you
will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers; but
you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me.
16 ‘Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have observed the command
of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to
Me.’ ” ’
17 “Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold,
I am bringing on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster
that I have pronounced against them; because I spoke to them but they did not
listen, and I have called them but they did not answer.’ ”
18 Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says the Lord
of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have obeyed the command of
Jonadab your father, kept all his commands and done according to all that he
commanded you;
19 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Jonadab the
son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me always.” ’ ”
Chapter
36
Jeremiah’s Scroll Read in the Temple
1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this
word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken
to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations,
from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.
3 “Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan
to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then
I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll
at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which He had spoken
to him.
5 Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted; I cannot go
into the house of the Lord.
6 “So you go and read from the scroll which you have written at my
dictation the words of the Lord to the people in the Lord’s house on
a fast day. And also you shall read them to all the people of Judah who come
from their cities.
7 “Perhaps their supplication will come before the Lord, and everyone
will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the
Lord has pronounced against this people.”
8 Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded
him, reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.
9 Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in
the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came
from
the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the Lord.
10 Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the
Lord in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the
upper
court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house, to all the people.
11 Now when Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all
the words of the Lord from the book,
12 he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And
behold, all the officials were sitting there—Elishama the scribe, and
Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah
the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.
13 Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read
from the book to the people.
14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah,
the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from
which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah
took the scroll in his hand and went to them.
15 They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch
read it to them.
16 When they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one to another
and said to Baruch, “We will surely report all these words to the king.”
17 And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us, please, how did you write
all these words? Was it at his dictation?”
18 Then Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me, and
I wrote them with ink on the book.”
19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah,
and do not let anyone know where you are.”
The Scroll Is Burned
20 So they went to the king in the court, but they had deposited the scroll
in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they reported all the words to
the king.
21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber
of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king as well as to all
the officials who stood beside the king.
22 Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with
a fire burning in the brazier before him.
23 When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s
knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll
was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.
24 Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid,
nor did they rend their garments.
25 Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah pleaded with the king not
to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.
26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of
Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah
the prophet, but the Lord hid them.
The Scroll Is Replaced
27 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the
scroll and the words which Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah,
saying,
28 “Take again another scroll and write on it all the former words that
were on the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned.
29 “And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says
the Lord, “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you
written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this
land, and will make man and beast to cease from it?’ ”
30 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, “He
shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall
be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.
31 “I will also punish him and his descendants and his servants for
their iniquity, and I will bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and
the men of Judah all the calamity that I have declared to them—but they
did not listen.” ’ ”
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah,
the scribe, and he wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words
of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many
similar
words were added to them.
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)