Jeremiah

The “weeping prophet” warns Judah for forty years that Babylon will destroy Jerusalem. He is mocked, beaten and imprisoned, and lives to see it happen. Yet he also promises a new covenant, with God’s law written on people’s hearts.

Author

The prophet Jeremiah, with his scribe Baruch

Written

About 627 to 580 BC

Chapters

1. 1Jeremiah 1God calls Jeremiah as a young man: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” God touches his mouth and shows him visions of an almond branch and a boiling pot.
2. 2Jeremiah 2God’s charge against Israel: they have forsaken him, the spring of living water, and dug broken cisterns.
3. 3Jeremiah 3Judah is like an unfaithful wife, worse than Israel. Yet God calls, “Return, faithless people.”
4. 4Jeremiah 4A call to repent, and a vision of disaster coming from the north. Jeremiah is in anguish.
5. 5Jeremiah 5Search Jerusalem for one honest person. The people have eyes but do not see.
6. 6Jeremiah 6Jerusalem is besieged. They say “Peace, peace” when there is no peace. “Ask for the ancient paths.”
7. 7Jeremiah 7Jeremiah’s temple sermon: don’t trust in the temple while practising injustice, or it will become like Shiloh.
8. 8Jeremiah 8The people refuse to return. “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Is there no balm in Gilead?
9. 9Jeremiah 9Jeremiah weeps over his people. “Let the one who boasts boast in knowing me.”
10. 10Jeremiah 10Idols are worthless, but the Lord is the true and living God.
11. 11Jeremiah 11Judah has broken the covenant. Jeremiah learns of a plot against his life from his own hometown.
12. 12Jeremiah 12Jeremiah asks why the wicked prosper. God says harder times are coming.
13. 13Jeremiah 13A ruined linen belt pictures Judah’s pride ruined. The coming exile.
14. 14Jeremiah 14A drought. Jeremiah prays for the people, but God says false prophets are promising peace.
15. 15Jeremiah 15Even Moses and Samuel could not turn away this judgment. Jeremiah complains, and God promises to make him a fortified wall.
16. 16Jeremiah 16Jeremiah is told not to marry, as a sign of coming judgment. Yet God will bring his people back.
17. 17Jeremiah 17The heart is deceitful above all things. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, like a tree planted by water. Keep the Sabbath.
18. 18Jeremiah 18At the potter’s house, God shows he can reshape a nation like clay. The people plot against Jeremiah.
19. 19Jeremiah 19Jeremiah smashes a clay jar as a sign that God will break Jerusalem.
20. 20Jeremiah 20Jeremiah is beaten and put in stocks. He complains that God’s word is like a fire shut up in his bones.
21. 21Jeremiah 21Jerusalem will fall to Babylon. Surrender and live.
22. 22Jeremiah 22Messages to Judah’s kings about justice for the poor.
23. 23Jeremiah 23A righteous Branch from David will reign, called “The Lord Our Righteousness”. False prophets are condemned.
24. 24Jeremiah 24A vision of two baskets of figs: the good figs are the exiles God will bring back and give a heart to know him.
25. 25Jeremiah 25Seventy years of exile in Babylon are foretold.
26. 26Jeremiah 26Jeremiah is threatened with death for his temple sermon but is spared.
27. 27Jeremiah 27Jeremiah wears a yoke, urging the nations to submit to Babylon.
28. 28Jeremiah 28The false prophet Hananiah breaks Jeremiah’s yoke and predicts a quick return. He dies within the year.
29. 29Jeremiah 29Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles: build houses, seek the welfare of the city, and pray for it. “I know the plans I have for you: plans for welfare, to give you a future and a hope.”
30. 30Jeremiah 30The “Book of Comfort” begins: God will restore Israel and Judah.
31. 31Jeremiah 31“I have loved you with an everlasting love.” God promises a new covenant: “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.”
32. 32Jeremiah 32While Jerusalem is under siege, Jeremiah buys a field as a sign that land will be bought again. “Nothing is too hard for you.”
33. 33Jeremiah 33“Call to me and I will answer you.” God promises healing, a righteous Branch, and an unbreakable covenant with David.
34. 34Jeremiah 34Judah frees its slaves, then takes them back, breaking the covenant.
35. 35Jeremiah 35The Rechabites’ faithfulness to their ancestor’s commands shames Judah’s unfaithfulness to God.
36. 36Jeremiah 36King Jehoiakim burns Jeremiah’s scroll piece by piece. Jeremiah dictates it again.
37. 37Jeremiah 37Jeremiah is arrested and imprisoned, accused of deserting to the Babylonians.
38. 38Jeremiah 38Jeremiah is thrown into a muddy cistern, and Ebed-melech, a Cushite official, rescues him. King Zedekiah secretly consults him.
39. 39Jeremiah 39Jerusalem falls to Babylon. Zedekiah is captured, and Ebed-melech is spared because he trusted God.
40. 40Jeremiah 40Jeremiah is freed and stays with Gedaliah, the governor.
41. 41Jeremiah 41Gedaliah is murdered by Ishmael.
42. 42Jeremiah 42The survivors ask Jeremiah to seek God’s guidance, promising to obey.
43. 43Jeremiah 43God says to stay in Judah, but the people go to Egypt anyway and take Jeremiah with them.
44. 44Jeremiah 44The Jews in Egypt worship the “queen of heaven” and refuse to listen.
45. 45Jeremiah 45A personal word to Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe: don’t seek great things for yourself, but God will protect your life.
46. 46Jeremiah 46A message against Egypt.
47. 47Jeremiah 47A message against the Philistines.
48. 48Jeremiah 48A message against Moab.
49. 49Jeremiah 49Messages against Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar and Elam.
50. 50Jeremiah 50Babylon itself will fall, and Israel will return and seek the Lord.
51. 51Jeremiah 51Babylon’s judgment continues. Jeremiah’s prophecy is written on a scroll and thrown into the Euphrates.
52. 52Jeremiah 52An account of Jerusalem’s fall and the exile. It ends with King Jehoiachin released from prison in Babylon.