Jeremiah 26 - English Bible for the Deaf - with illustrations (EBD19DI) (2025)

The priests and prophets want to kill Jeremiah

₁The Lord spoke to Jeremiah not long after Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, had become king_of_Judah. ₂The Lord said to Jeremiah: ‘You must go and stand in the courtyard of the temple and talk to all the people of the towns and cities of Judah who come to pray at the temple. You must tell them everything that I say to you, and don't leave out any of the words that I say to you. ₃Maybe the people will listen to Me and change their lives and stop doing bad things. If they listen to Me, I will not punish them for the bad things they have done.

₄You must tell them: “This is what the Lord says: You must listen to Me and do what I tell you. ₅You must listen to what my servants, the prophets, have told you. I have sent them to you again and again, but you did not listen to them. ₆If you don't listen to Me, I will do the same to this temple as I did to the temple in Shiloh. Then everyone on earth will use the name of this city when they want to curse other people.” ’

₇The priests and prophets and all the people of Jerusalem heard when Jeremiah said these things in the temple. ₈When he told them everything that the Lord had told him to tell the people, the priests and prophets and all the people grabbed him and said: ‘You must die, that is sure. ₉Why do you say that it was the Lord who sent you to say that this temple will be destroyed like the temple at Shiloh? Why do you say that this city will become a heap of stones where no one can live?’

The people arrested him and they came together in the temple. ₁₀They told the officials of Judah what had happened and they came from the palace to the temple. They went to the New Gate of the temple and sat down. ₁₁The priests and the prophets then said to the officials and all the people: ‘This man must die because he said that the Lord had sent him to say bad things against this city. You heard it yourselves.’

₁₂Jeremiah told the officials and all the people: ‘The Lord did send me to say all these things against this temple and this city. Everything that I said is true. ₁₃Now change your lives and live in the right way and do things that are good. Obey the Lord your God, then the Lord will not punish you as He said. ₁₄And I, here I am, you can do to me what you think is good and right. ₁₅But you must know this very well: If you kill me, you will be guilty of killing an innocent person and then the Lord will punish you and this city and its people, because it was really the Lord who sent me to tell you all these things.’

₁₆The officials and all the people then said to the priests and the prophets: ‘We may not kill this man, because the Lord our God sent him to talk to us.’

₁₇Then some of the leaders stood up and talked to all the people who were together in the meeting. They said: ₁₈‘At the time when Hezekiah was king_of_Judah, the prophet Micah from the town of Moresheth gave a message from the Lord to all the people of Judah and he said: “The Lord who rules over all says: The enemies will plough the city of Jerusalem like a farmer ploughs a land. Jerusalem will become a heap of stones and the mountain where the temple now stands will become full of bushes.”

₁₉King Hezekiah of Judah and the people of Judah did not kill Micah. No, the king served the Lord and he prayed to the Lord to be merciful. Then the Lord changed his plan and He did not punish them. And we? We are now doing something that will make us suffer very badly.’

King Jehoiakim kills the prophet Uriah

₂₀There was another prophet with a message from God. It was Uriah, son of Shemaiah, from the town of Kiriath-Jearim. He said the same things against the city and land as Jeremiah did. ₂₁When they told King Jehoiakim and all his soldiers and his officers what he said, the king wanted to kill him. Uriah heard it and he became afraid and he ran away to Egypt. ₂₂But King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan, son of Akbor, and other men with him to Egypt. ₂₃They went to Egypt to get Uriah and they brought him back to King Jehoiakim. The king told his men to kill Uriah and to throw his body into a grave where the poor people were buried, and they did it.

₂₄But Ahikam, son of Shaphan, asked the king not to kill Jeremiah and the people did not kill him.

FAQs

What is the meaning of Jeremiah 26? ›

God calls Jeremiah to preach to the people in the hopes that they will repent. All people are sinful and God desires that all people repent of their sins. The Hebrew word for repent means to "turn away" from sin.

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What is the Bible for the deaf? ›

This Bible was translated by the Bible Society of South Africa for different groups of readers: Deaf readers who use Sign Language and struggle to understand the words of other Bible translations that were formulated for hearing people.

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What does God ask Jeremiah to do? ›

God commanded Jeremiah to warn the people of Jerusalem that if they did not repent, the city would be destroyed and they would be carried away captive. Jeremiah also prophesied that the day would come that all of the children of Israel would be gathered and again become God's people.

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How do you explain Jeremiah 26 13? ›

Jeremiah 26:13 Meaning and Commentary

will do as men do when they repent, change their method of acting, and manner of behaviour; so the Lord is said to repent or turn, when he changes the method and conduct of his providence towards men, though he never changes his mind or counsel.

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Does Jesus heal a deaf person? ›

Jesus placed His fingers in the ears of a deaf-mute, spit, touched the man's tongue, looked up into heaven, and sighed, “Be opened.” Immediately the man could both hear and speak.  This is the first of three occasions on which Jesus spat when accomplishing a miracle.

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How do deaf people hear God? ›

Likewise, through sign language, members of the Deaf community would be able to understand what Jesus says to them in the Bible. As Jesus was well aware, sign language is language that differs from any spoken language.

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What does God say about turning a deaf ear? ›

Proverbs 28:9-14 New International Version (NIV)

If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable. Whoever leads the upright along an evil path will fall into their own trap, but the blameless will receive a good inheritance.

What does it mean when God says I know the plans I have for you? ›

The people were asked to do the impossible, and it makes sense if they were hesitant at first. By saying, “I know the plans I have for you,” God was reassuring the people that their faith in Him would be rewarded. He wasn't saying He'd swoop down and make everything easy for them.

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What does God's banner over us mean? ›

God is our banner because we remember all His deeds and His words graciously given to us in scripture. God is our banner because He gives us identity, and our label is “God's children,” because of the saving work of Jesus.

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What does rend your garments mean? ›

Rend your heart and not your garments” (Joel 2:12–13). In Bible days, people expressed sorrow by tearing (rending) their clothes. Everyone who saw them knew they were grieving. If someone wanted to demonstrate their repentance and sorrow over their sin, they would publicly tear their clothes.

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What did the prophet Joel mean by the words rend your heart not your garments? ›

But instead of tearing your clothes, or even changing them, Joel is pleading with you to do the same with your heart, your very being..to rend them. He is calling you to repentance. Real repentance is not just feeling sorry for your sin.