Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Jeremiah, chapters 27 and 28. Chapter 27 In the
beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of
Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah
from the Lord, saying, Thus says the Lord to
me, Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, and
put them on your neck. And send them to the king
of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites,
the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the
hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem
to Zedekiah king of Judah, and command them to
say to their masters, Thus says the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, Thus you shall say to your
masters, I have made the earth, the man, and
the beast that are on the ground by my great
power and by my outstretched arm, and have given
it to whom it seemed proper to me. And now I
have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar
the king of Babylon, my servant. And the beasts
of the field I have also given him to serve him.
So all nations shall serve him and his son and
his son's son until the time of his land comes.
And then many nations and great kings shall make
him serve them. And it shall be that the nation
and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar
the king of Babylon and which will not put its
neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that
nation I will punish, says the Lord, with the
sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until
I have consumed them by his hand. Therefore do
not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your
dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers,
who speak to you, saying, You shall not serve
the king of Babylon, for they prophesy a lie
to you, to remove you far from your land, and
I will drive you out, and you will perish. But
the nations that bring their necks under the
yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I
will let them remain in their own land, says
the Lord, and they shall till it and dwell in
it. I also spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according
to all these words, saying, Bring your necks
under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve
him and his people and live. Why will you die,
you and your people, by the sword, by the famine,
and by the pestilence, as the Lord has spoken
against the nation that will not serve the king
of Babylon? Therefore do not listen to the words
of the prophets who speak to you, saying, You
shall not serve the king of Babylon, for they
prophesy a lie to you, for I have not sent them,
says the Lord. Yet they prophesy a lie in my
name, that I may drive you out, and that you
may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy
to you. Also I spoke to the priests, and to all
these people, saying, Thus says the Lord, Do
not listen to the words of your prophets, who
prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels
of the Lord's house will now shortly be brought
back from Babylon, for they prophesy a lie to
you. Do not listen to them. Serve the king of
Babylon and live. Why should this city be laid
waste? But if they are prophets, and if the word
of the Lord is with them, let them now make intercession
to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which
are left in the house of the Lord in the house
of the king of Judah and at Jerusalem do not
go to Babylon. For thus says the Lord of hosts
concerning the pillars, concerning the sea, concerning
the carts, and concerning the remainder of the
vessels that remain in this city, which Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon did not take when he carried
away a captive. Jeconiah the son of Jehoakim
king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon and all
the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem yes thus says
the Lord of hosts the God of Israel concerning
the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord
and in the house of the king of Judah and of
Jerusalem they shall be carried to Babylon and
there they shall be until the day that I visit
them says the Lord then I will bring them up
and restore them to this place chapter 28 And
it happened in the same year, at the beginning
of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the
fourth year and in the fifth month, that Hananiah
the son of Azur the prophet, who was from Gibeon,
spoke to me in the house of the Lord in the presence
of the priests and of all the people, saying,
Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of
Babylon. Within two full years I will bring back
to this place all the vessels of the Lord's house
that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away
from this place and carried to Babylon. And I
will bring back to this place Jeconiah the son
of Jehoiakim king of Judah with all the captives
of Judah who went to Babylon, says the Lord.
For I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet
Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in
the presence of all the people who stood in the
house of the Lord. And the prophet Jeremiah said,
Amen. The Lord do so. The Lord perform your words
which you have prophesied to bring back the vessels
of the Lord's house and all who were carried
away captive from Babylon to this place. Nevertheless,
hear now this word that I speak in your hearing
and in the hearing of all the people. the prophets
who have been before me and before you of old
prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms
of war and disaster and pestilence as for the
prophet who prophesies of peace when the word
of the prophet comes to pass the prophet will
be known as one whom the lord has truly sent
then hananiah the prophet took the yoke of the
prophet jeremiah's neck and broke it and hananiah
spoke in the presence of all the people saying
Thus says the Lord, Even so, I will break the
yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the
neck of all nations within the space of two full
years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after
Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from
the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Go
and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus says the Lord,
You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have
made in their place yokes of iron. For thus says
the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have
put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations,
that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
and they shall serve him. I have given him the
beasts of the field also. Then the prophet Jeremiah
said to Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah,
the Lord has not sent you, but you make this
people trust in a lie. Therefore, thus says the
Lord, Behold, I will cast you from the face of
the earth. This year you shall die, because you
have taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah
the prophet died the same year in the seventh
month. I hope you enjoyed today's reading as
much as I did and I look forward to seeing you
again tomorrow to continue on our journey. God
bless you and have a great day.