He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. He didn’t pay any attention to the message the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

行耶和华他神眼中看为恶的事。先知耶利米以耶和华的话劝他，他仍不在耶利米面前自卑。

他行耶和华—他上帝眼中看为恶的事，没有谦卑听从耶利米先知所传达耶和华的话。

他行耶和华—他神眼中看为恶的事，没有谦卑听从耶利米先知所传达耶和华的话。

他做他的上帝耶和华视为恶的事，耶利米先知向他传讲耶和华的话，他仍不肯在耶利米面前谦卑下来。

他行耶和华他的神看为恶的事；耶利米先知奉耶和华的命令警戒他，他仍不在耶利米面前谦卑下来。

行耶和華－他神眼中看為惡的事。先知耶利米以耶和華的話勸他，他仍不在耶利米面前自卑。

他行耶和華－他上帝眼中看為惡的事，沒有謙卑聽從耶利米先知所傳達耶和華的話。

他行耶和華－他神眼中看為惡的事，沒有謙卑聽從耶利米先知所傳達耶和華的話。

他做他的上帝耶和華視為惡的事，耶利米先知向他傳講耶和華的話，他仍不肯在耶利米面前謙卑下來。

他行耶和華他的神看為惡的事；耶利米先知奉耶和華的命令警戒他，他仍不在耶利米面前謙卑下來。

他行了永恆主他的上帝所看為壞的事；不在神言人耶利米面前自己謙卑，雖然耶利米是奉永恆主的命令來說話的。

行耶和華所惡、先知耶利米以耶和華言諭之、彼不自卑、

行惡於上帝耶和華前、先知耶利米雖諭以耶和華命、猶不痛自怨艾、

行惡於主前、先知耶利米以主命勸之、彼仍不自卑、

He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord.

He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord.

But Zedekiah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and he refused to humble himself when the prophet Jeremiah spoke to him directly from the Lord.

He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before the prophet Jeremiah at the LORD’s command.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God; he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the Lord.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord.

and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah his God; he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of Jehovah.

He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet at the Lord’s command.

And he did[ that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD his God,[ and] humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet[ speaking] from the mouth of the LORD.

He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, the LORD’s spokesman.

He did that which was evil in Yahweh his God’s sight. He didn’t humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from Yahweh’s mouth.

He didn’t make himself humble in the Lord’ s sight as his father Manasseh had done. So Amon became even more guilty.

Zedekiah and his attendants didn’t pay any attention to what the Lord had said through Jeremiah the prophet. And the people of the land didn’t pay any attention either.But King Zedekiah sent Jehukal to Jeremiah the prophet. Zedekiah sent Zephaniah the priest along with him. Jehukal was the son of Shelemiah. Zephaniah was the son of Maaseiah. Jehukal and Zephaniah brought the king’s message to Jeremiah. It said,“ Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”At that time Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people. Jeremiah had not yet been put in prison.The armies of Babylon were attacking Jerusalem. They received a report that Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt to help Zedekiah. So armies of Babylon pulled back from Jerusalem.A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah.The Lord is the God of Israel. He says,“ The king of Judah has sent you to ask me for advice. Tell him,‘ Pharaoh’s army has marched out to help you. But it will go back to its own land. It will return to Egypt.Then the armies of Babylon will come back here. They will attack this city. They will capture it. Then they will burn it down.’“ The Lord says,‘ Do not fool yourselves. You think,“ The Babylonians will leave us alone.” But they will not!Suppose you destroy all the armies of Babylon that are attacking you. Suppose only wounded men are left in their tents. Even then they will come out and burn down this city.’ ”The armies of Babylon had pulled back from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army.So Jeremiah started to leave the city. He was planning to go to the territory of Benjamin. Jeremiah wanted to get his share of the property among the people there.He got as far as the Benjamin Gate. But the captain of the guard arrested him. He said,“ You are going over to the side of the Babylonians!” The captain’s name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah. Shelemiah was the son of Hananiah.Jeremiah said to Irijah,“ That isn’t true! I’m not going to the side of the Babylonians.” But Irijah wouldn’t listen to him. Instead, he arrested Jeremiah. He brought Jeremiah to the officials.They were angry with him. So they had him beaten. Then they took him to the house of Jonathan the secretary. It had been made into a prison. That’s where they put Jeremiah.Jeremiah was put into a prison cell below ground level. He remained there a long time.Then King Zedekiah sent for him. King Zedekiah had Jeremiah brought to the palace. There the king spoke to him in private. The king asked,“ Do you have a message from the Lord for me?”“ Yes,” Jeremiah replied.“ You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”Then Jeremiah continued,“ Why have you put me in prison? What crime have I committed against you? What have I done to your attendants or these people?Where are your prophets who prophesied to you? They said,‘ The king of Babylon won’t attack you. He won’t march into this land.’But now please listen, my king and master. Let me make my appeal to you. Please don’t send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary. If you do, I’ll die there.”Then King Zedekiah gave the order. His men put Jeremiah in the courtyard of the guard. They gave him a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers. They did it every day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet. The king had him brought to the third entrance to the Lord’ s temple.“ I want to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah.“ Don’t hide anything from me.”Jeremiah said to Zedekiah,“ Suppose I give you an answer. You will kill me, won’t you? Suppose I give you good advice. You won’t listen to me, will you?”But King Zedekiah promised Jeremiah secretly,“ I won’t kill you. And I won’t hand you over to those who want to kill you. That’s just as sure as the Lord is alive. He’s the one who has given us breath.”So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah,“ The Lord God who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,‘ Give yourself up to the officers of the king of Babylon. Then your life will be spared. And this city will not be burned down. You and your family will remain alive.But what if you do not give yourself up to them? Then this city will be handed over to the Babylonians. They will burn it down. And you yourself will not escape from them.’ ”King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah,“ I’m afraid of some of the Jews. They are the ones who have gone over to the side of the Babylonians. The Babylonians might hand me over to them. And those Jews will treat me badly.”“ They won’t hand you over to them,” Jeremiah replied.“ Obey the Lord. Do what I tell you to do. Then things will go well with you. Your life will be spared.Don’t refuse to give yourself up. The Lord has shown me what will happen if you do.All the women who are left in your palace will be brought out. They’ll be given to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you,“‘ Your trusted friends have tricked you. They have gotten the best of you. Your feet are sunk down in the mud. Your friends have deserted you.’“ All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself won’t escape from them. You will be captured by the king of Babylon. And this city will be burned down.”Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah,“ Don’t let anyone know about the talk we’ve had. If you do, you might die.Suppose the officials find out that I’ve talked with you. And suppose they come to you and say,‘ Tell us what you said to the king. Tell us what the king said to you. Don’t hide it from us. If you do, we’ll kill you.’Then tell them,‘ I was begging the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house. I don’t want to die there.’ ”All the officials came to Jeremiah. And they questioned him. He told them everything the king had ordered him to say. None of them had heard what he told the king. So they didn’t say anything else to him.Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard. He stayed there until the day Jerusalem was captured. Here is how Jerusalem was captured.

A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It came when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur to Jeremiah. Pashhur was the son of Malkijah. Zedekiah sent Zephaniah the priest along with him. Zephaniah was the son of Maaseiah. They said to Jeremiah,“ Ask the Lord to help us. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is attacking us. In the past the Lord did wonderful things for us. Maybe he’ll do them again. Then Nebuchadnezzar will pull his armies back from us.”But Jeremiah answered them,“ Tell Zedekiah and his people,‘ The Lord is the God of Israel. He says,“ The king of Babylon and his armies are all around this city. They are getting ready to attack you. You have weapons of war in your hands to fight against them. But I am about to turn your weapons against you. And I will bring your enemies inside this city.I myself will fight against you. I will reach out my powerful hand and mighty arm. I will come against you with all my great anger.I will strike down those who live in this city. I will kill people and animals alike. They will die of a terrible plague.After that, I will hand you over to your enemies. They want to kill you,” announces the Lord.“ I will hand over Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his officials. I will also hand over the people in this city who live through the plague, war and hunger. All of them will be handed over to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He will kill them with swords. He will show them no mercy. He will not feel sorry for them. In fact, he will not have any concern for them at all.” ’“ Tell the people,‘ The Lord says,“ I am offering you a choice. You can choose the way that leads to life. Or you can choose the way that leads to death.Those who stay in this city will die of war, hunger or plague. But suppose some go out and give themselves up to the Babylonians attacking you. They will live. They will escape with their lives.I have decided to do this city harm and not good,” announces the Lord.“ It will be handed over to the king of Babylon. And he will destroy it with fire.” ’

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They said to him,“ The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says,‘ How long will you refuse to obey me? Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me.

But Josiah wouldn’t turn away from Necho. Josiah wore different clothes so people wouldn’t recognize him. He wanted to go to war against Necho. He wouldn’t listen to what God had commanded Necho to say. Instead, Josiah went out to fight him on the plains of Megiddo.

Then Hezekiah had a change of heart. He was sorry he had been proud. The people of Jerusalem were also sorry they had sinned. So the Lord wasn’t angry with them as long as Hezekiah was king.

Everything about Manasseh is written in the records of the prophets. That includes his prayer and the fact that God felt sorry for him. It includes everything he did before he made himself humble in the Lord’ s sight. It includes all his sins and the fact that he wasn’t faithful to the Lord. It includes the locations where he built high places. It includes the places where he set up poles used to worship the female god named Asherah. And it includes the places where he set up statues of other gods.

So make yourselves humble. Put yourselves under God’s mighty hand. Then he will honor you at the right time.

When Manasseh was in trouble, he asked the Lord his God to help him. He made himself very humble in the sight of the God of his people.

“ But you knew all that, Belshazzar. After all, you are Nebuchadnezzar’s son. In spite of that, you are still proud.You have taken your stand against the Lord of heaven. You had your servants bring cups from his temple to you. You and your nobles drank wine from them. So did your wives and concubines. You praised your gods. The statues of those gods are made out of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood or stone. They can’t see or hear or understand anything. But you didn’t honor God. He holds in his hand your very life and everything you do.

“ I am the Lord, the God of Israel. Go to Zedekiah, the king of Judah. Tell him,‘ The Lord says,“ I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon. He will burn it down.You will not escape from his power. You will certainly be captured. You will be handed over to him. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes. He will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon.“‘ “But listen to the Lord’ s promise to you, Zedekiah king of Judah. I say that you will not be killed by a sword.You will die in a peaceful way. People made fires to honor the kings who died before you. In the same way, they will make a fire in your honor. They will mourn for you. They will say,‘ My poor master!’ I myself make this promise,” announces the Lord.’ ”Then Jeremiah the prophet told all this to King Zedekiah in Jerusalem.At that time Nebuchadnezzar’s armies were fighting against Jerusalem. They were also fighting against Lachish and Azekah. These two cities were still holding out. They were the only cities left in Judah that had high walls around them.A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem. He had told them to set their Hebrew slaves free.All of them had to do this. That applied to male and female slaves alike. No one was allowed to hold another Hebrew as a slave.So all the officials and people entered into this covenant. They agreed to set their male and female slaves free. They agreed not to hold them as slaves anymore. Instead, they set them free.But later they changed their minds. They took back the people they had set free. They made them slaves again.Then a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah.The Lord is the God of Israel. He says,“ I made a covenant with your people of long ago. I brought them out of Egypt. That is the land where they were slaves. I said,‘ Every seventh year you must set your people free. Each of you must set free all the Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. Let them serve you for six years. Then you must let them go free.’( Deuteronomy 15:12) But your people of long ago did not listen to me. They did not pay any attention to me.Recently you turned away from your sins. You did what is right in my eyes. Each of you set your Hebrew slaves free. You even made a covenant in front of me. You did it in the house where I have put my Name.But now you have turned around. You have treated my name as if it were not holy. Each of you has taken back your male and female slaves. You had set them free to go where they wished. But now you have forced them to become your slaves again.”So the Lord says,“ You have not obeyed me. You have not set your Hebrew slaves free. So now I will set you free,” announces the Lord.“ I will set you free to be destroyed by war, plague and hunger. I will make all the kingdoms on earth displeased with you.Those people who have broken my covenant will be punished. They have not lived up to the terms of the covenant they made in front of me. When you made that covenant, you cut a calf in two. Then you walked between its pieces. Now I will cut you to pieces.That includes all of you who walked between the pieces of the calf. It includes the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials and the priests. It also includes some of the people of the land.So I will hand over all those people to their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.“ I will hand over King Zedekiah and his officials to their enemies. I will hand them over to those who want to kill them. I will hand them over to the armies of the king of Babylon. They have now pulled back from you.But I am going to give an order,” announces the Lord.“ I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it. They will capture it and burn it down. And I will completely destroy the towns of Judah. No one will be able to live there.”

Be humble in front of the Lord. And he will lift you up.

I gave the same message to Zedekiah, the king of Judah. I said,“ Put your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon. Obey him. Serve his people. Then you will live.Why should you and your people die? Why should you die of war, hunger and plague? That’s what the Lord said would happen to any nation that won’t serve the king of Babylon.Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who say to you,‘ You won’t serve the king of Babylon.’ They are prophesying lies to you.‘ I have not sent them,’ announces the Lord.‘ They are prophesying lies in my name. So I will drive you away from your land. And you will die. So will the prophets who prophesy to you.’ ”Then I spoke to the priests and all these people. I said,“ The Lord says,‘ Do not listen to the prophets who speak to you. They say,“ Very soon the objects from the Lord’ s house will be brought back from Babylon.” Those prophets are prophesying lies to you.Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon. Then you will live. Why should this city be destroyed?If they are prophets and have received a message from me, let them pray to me. I am the Lord who rules over all. Those prophets should pray that what is still in Jerusalem will remain here. They should pray that the objects in my house and the king’s palace will not be taken to Babylon.I am the Lord who rules over all. Do you know what these objects are? They include the two pillars in front of the temple. They include the huge bronze bowl. They include the bronze stands that can be moved around. And they include the other things left in this city.Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, did not take these things away at first. That was when he took King Jehoiachin from Jerusalem to Babylon. Jehoiachin is the son of Jehoiakim. Nebuchadnezzar also took all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem along with Jehoiachin.I am the Lord who rules over all. I am the God of Israel. Here is what will happen to the things that are left in my house, the king’s palace and Jerusalem.They will be taken to Babylon. They will remain there until the day I come for them,’ announces the Lord.‘ Then I will bring them back. I will return them to this place.’ ”The false prophet Hananiah spoke to me, Jeremiah, in the Lord’ s house. Hananiah was from Gibeon. He was the son of Azzur. It was shortly after Zedekiah became king of Judah. It was in the fifth month of his fourth year. In front of the priests and all the people Hananiah spoke to me. He said,“ The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,‘ I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, removed all the objects that belong to my house. He took them to Babylon. Before two years are over, I will bring them back to this place.I will also bring King Jehoiachin back. He is the son of Jehoiakim. And I will bring back all the others who were taken from Judah to Babylon,’ announces the Lord.‘ I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ ”Then Jeremiah the prophet replied to the false prophet Hananiah. Jeremiah spoke to him in front of the priests and all the people. They were standing in the Lord’ s house.Jeremiah said,“ Amen, Hananiah! May the Lord do those things! May he make the words you have prophesied come true. May he bring back from Babylon the objects that belong to the Lord’ s house. May he bring back to this place all the people who were taken away.But listen to what I have to say. I want you and all the people to hear it.There have been prophets long before you and I were ever born. They have prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms. They have spoken about war, trouble and plague.But what if a prophet says peace will come? And suppose peace really does come? Only then will he be recognized as a prophet truly sent by the Lord.”The false prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet. Then Hananiah broke the yoke.In front of all the people he said,“ The Lord says,‘ In the same way, I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Before two years are over, I will remove it from the necks of all the nations.’ ” When Jeremiah the prophet heard this, he went on his way.A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It was after the false prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off Jeremiah’s neck. The message said,“ Go. Tell Hananiah,‘ The Lord says,“ You have broken a wooden yoke. But in its place you will get an iron yoke.”The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,“ I will put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations. I will make them serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. So they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.” ’ ”Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke to the false prophet Hananiah. Jeremiah said,“ Listen, Hananiah! The Lord hasn’t sent you. But you have tricked these people. Now they trust in lies.So the Lord says,‘ I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. Before this year is over, you will die. You have taught the people to turn against me.’ ”In the seventh month of that very year, the false prophet Hananiah died.