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Jeremiah 1:8
Do not be afraid of the people I send you to. I am with you. I will save you,” announces the Lord.
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Joshua 1:9
Here is what I am commanding you to do. Be strong and brave. Do not be afraid. Do not lose hope. I am the Lord your God. I will be with you everywhere you go.”
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Jeremiah 20:11
But you are with me like a mighty warrior. So those who are trying to harm me will trip and fall. They won’t win out over me. They will fail. They’ll be totally put to shame. Their dishonor will never be forgotten.
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Psalms 129:2
My enemies have treated me badly ever since I was a young nation. But they haven’t won the battle.
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Jeremiah 29:25-32
“ The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,‘ You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem. You also sent them to Zephaniah the priest. He is the son of Maaseiah. And you sent them to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah,“ The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada. He has put you in charge of the Lord’ s house. You are supposed to arrest any crazy person who claims to be a prophet. You should put him in prison. You should put iron bands around his neck.So why haven’t you punished Jeremiah from Anathoth? He claims to be a prophet among you.He has sent a message to us in Babylon. It says,‘ You will be there a long time. So build houses and make your homes there. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.’ ” ’ ”But Zephaniah the priest read the letter to me.Then a message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said,“ Send a message to all the people who were taken away. Tell them,‘ The Lord speaks about Shemaiah, the Nehelamite. He says,“ Shemaiah has prophesied to you. But I did not send him. He has made you trust in lies.So I say,‘ I will certainly punish Shemaiah, the Nehelamite. I will also punish his children after him. He will not have any children left among these people. I will do good things for my people. But he will not see them,’ ” ’ ” announces the Lord.“ ‘ “ ‘That’s because he has taught people to turn against me.’ ” ’ ”
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Jeremiah 15:10-21
My mother, I wish I had never been born! The whole land opposes me. They fight against me. I haven’t made loans to anyone. And I haven’t borrowed anything. But everyone curses me anyway.The Lord said,“ Jeremiah, I will keep you safe for a good purpose. I will make your enemies ask you to pray for them. They will make their appeal to you when they are in great trouble.“ People of Judah, the armies of Babylon will come from the north. They are as strong as iron and bronze. Can anyone break their power?I will give away your wealth and your treasures. Your enemies will carry off everything. And they will not pay anything for it. That will happen because you have sinned so much. You have done it throughout your country.I will make you slaves to your enemies. You will serve them in a land you have not known about before. My anger will start a fire that will burn you up.”Lord, you understand how much I’m suffering. Show concern for me. Take care of me. Pay back those who are trying to harm me. You are patient. Don’t take my life away from me. Think about how much shame I suffer because of you.When I received your words, I ate them. They filled me with joy. My heart took delight in them. Lord God who rules over all, I belong to you.I never sat around with those who go to wild parties. I never had a good time with them. I sat alone because you had put your powerful hand on me. Your anger against sin was burning inside me.Why does my pain never end? Why is my wound so deep? Why can’t I ever get well? To me you are like a stream that runs dry. You are like a spring that doesn’t have any water.So the Lord says to Jeremiah,“ If you turn away from your sins, I will heal you. And then you will be able to serve me. Speak words that are worthy, not worthless. Then you will be speaking for me. Let these people turn to you. But you must not turn to them.I will make you like a wall to them. I will make you like a strong bronze wall. The people will fight against you. But they will not overcome you. I am with you. I will save you,” announces the Lord.“ I will save you from the hands of evil people. I will set you free from those who treat you badly.”
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Jeremiah 11:19
I had been like a gentle lamb led off to be killed. I didn’t realize they had made plans against me. They had said,“ Let’s destroy the tree and its fruit. Let’s take away his life. Then his name won’t be remembered anymore.”
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Jeremiah 20:1-6
Pashhur the priest was the official in charge of the Lord’ s temple. He was the son of Immer. Pashhur heard Jeremiah prophesying that Jerusalem would be destroyed.So he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten. Then Pashhur put him in prison at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the Lord’ s temple.The next day Pashhur set him free. Jeremiah said to him,“ The Lord’ s name for you isn’t Pashhur. The Lord’ s name for you is Terror on Every Side.The Lord says to you,‘ I will make you a terror to yourself. You will also be a terror to all your friends. With your own eyes you will see them die. Their enemies will kill them with swords. I will hand over all the people of Judah to the king of Babylon. He will carry them away to Babylon or kill them with swords.I will hand over all the wealth of this city to Judah’s enemies. I will give them all its products and everything of value. I will turn over to them all the treasures that belonged to the kings of Judah. They will take these things and carry them off to Babylon.Pashhur, you and everyone who lives in your house will also be forced to go there. You have prophesied lies to all your friends. So all of you will die and be buried in Babylon.’ ”
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Jeremiah 26:11-24
Then the priests and prophets spoke to the officials and all the people. They said,“ This man should be sentenced to death. He has prophesied against this city. You have heard it with your own ears!”Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and people. He said,“ The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city. He told me to say everything you have heard.So change the way you live and act. Obey the Lord your God. Then he won’t do what he said he would. He won’t bring on you the trouble he said he would bring.As for me, I’m in your hands. Do to me what you think is good and right.But you can be sure of one thing. If you put me to death, you will be held responsible for spilling my blood. And I haven’t even done anything wrong. You will bring guilt on yourselves and this city and those who live in it. The Lord has sent me to you. He wanted me to say all these things so you could hear them. And that’s the truth.”Then the officials and all the people spoke to the priests and prophets. They said,“ This man shouldn’t be sentenced to death! He has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”Some of the elders of the land stepped forward. They spoke to the whole community gathered there. They said,“ Micah from Moresheth prophesied. It was during the time Hezekiah was king over Judah. Micah spoke to all the people of Judah. He told them,‘ The Lord who rules over all says,“‘ “Zion will be plowed up like a field. Jerusalem will be turned into a pile of trash. The temple hill will be covered with bushes and weeds.” ’( Micah 3:12)Did King Hezekiah or anyone else in Judah put Micah to death? Hezekiah had respect for the Lord and tried to please him. And the Lord didn’t judge Jerusalem as he said he would. He didn’t bring on it the trouble he said he would bring. But we are about to bring horrible trouble on ourselves!”Uriah was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord. He was from Kiriath Jearim. He was the son of Shemaiah. Uriah prophesied against this city and this land. He said the same things Jeremiah did.King Jehoiakim and all his officers and officials heard Uriah’s words. So the king decided to put him to death. But Uriah heard about it. He was afraid. And he ran away to Egypt.So King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan to Egypt. He also sent some other men along with him. Elnathan was the son of Akbor.Those men brought Uriah out of Egypt. They took him to King Jehoiakim. Then the king had Uriah struck down with a sword. He had Uriah’s body thrown into one of the graves of the ordinary people.In spite of that, Ahikam stood up for Jeremiah. Ahikam was the son of Shaphan. Because of Ahikam, Jeremiah wasn’t handed over to the people to be put to death.
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Jeremiah 38:6-13
So they took Jeremiah and put him into an empty well. It belonged to Malkijah. He was a member of the royal court. His well was in the courtyard of the guard. Zedekiah’s men lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the well. It didn’t have any water in it. All it had was mud. And Jeremiah sank down into the mud.Ebed- Melek was an official in the royal palace. He was from the land of Cush. He heard that Jeremiah had been put into the well. The king was sitting by the Benjamin Gate at that time.Ebed- Melek went out of the palace. He said to the king,“ My king and master, everything these men have done to Jeremiah the prophet is evil. They have thrown him into an empty well. Soon there won’t be any more bread in the city. Then he’ll starve to death.”So the king gave an order to Ebed- Melek the Cushite. He said,“ Take with you 30 men from here. Lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the well before he dies.”Then Ebed- Melek took the men with him. He went to a room in the palace. It was under the place where the treasures were stored. He got some old rags and worn- out clothes from there. Then he let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the well.Ebed- Melek the Cushite told Jeremiah what to do. Ebed- Melek said,“ Put these old rags and worn- out clothes under your arms. They’ll pad the ropes.” So Jeremiah did.Then the men pulled him up with the ropes. They lifted him out of the well. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
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Jeremiah 37:11-21
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.
