sent and had Jeremiah brought from the courtyard of the guardhouse. They turned him over to Gedaliah, ¹  the son of Ahikam and the grandson of Shaphan, to take him home with him. ²  But Jeremiah stayed among the people. ³ 

¹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem ²  for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal ³  daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.

“As for you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says concerning the Ammonites and their coming humiliation; ¹  say: “‘A sword, a sword drawn for slaughter, polished to consume, ²  to flash like lightning –

while seeing false visions for you and reading lying omens for you ¹  – to place that sword ²  on the necks of the profane wicked, ³  whose day has come, the time of final punishment.

“But as for you, son of man, your people ¹  (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another, ²  ‘Come hear the word that comes ³  from the Lord.’

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds ¹  of Israel; prophesy, and say to them – to the shepherds: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock?

“Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I have spoken in my zeal and in my anger, because you have endured the insults of the nations.

Therefore prophesy, and tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to open your graves and will raise you from your graves, my people. I will bring you to the land of Israel.

Hearing this, ¹  the men became even more afraid ²  and said to him, “What have you done?” (The men said this because they knew that he was trying to escape ³  from the Lord, ⁴  because he had previously told them. ⁵ )

On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do ¹  many powerful deeds?’

And he will go as forerunner before the Lord ¹  in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ²  to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

but ¹  every spirit that does not confess ²  Jesus ³  is not from God, and this is the spirit ⁴  of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world.

These two have the power ¹  to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the time ²  they are prophesying. They ³  have power ⁴  to turn the waters to blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague whenever they want.

And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life ¹  and in the holy city that are described in this book.

When the king heard what the prophet ¹  cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam, standing at the altar, extended his hand ²  and ordered, ³  “Seize him!” The hand he had extended shriveled up ⁴  and he could not pull it back.

When he became king, he executed Jeroboam’s entire family. He wiped out everyone who breathed, ¹  just as the Lord had predicted ²  through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite.

The prophet ¹  visited the king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Syrians said, “The Lord is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,” I will hand over to you this entire huge army. ²  Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

The king ¹  sent a third captain and his fifty soldiers. This third captain went up and fell ²  on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these fifty servants of yours.

An officer who was the king’s right-hand man ¹  responded to the prophet, ²  “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?” ³  Elisha ⁴  said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!” ⁵