speak to them, yet they have prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people and would have turned them from their evil ways and from their evil deeds.
23 'Am I only a God nearby,' declares the Lord , 'and not a God far away?
24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?' declares the Lord . 'Do not I fill heaven and earth?' declares the Lord .
25 'I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, 'I had a dream! I had a dream!'
26 How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds?
27 They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their fathers forgot my name through Baal worship.
28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?' declares the Lord .
29 'Is not my word like fire,' declares the Lord , 'and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?
30 'Therefore,' declares the Lord , 'I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me.
31 Yes,' declares the Lord , 'I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, 'The Lord declares.'
32 Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,' declares the Lord . 'They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,' declares the Lord .
33 'When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, 'What is the oracle of the Lord ?' say to them, 'What oracle? I will forsake you, declares the Lord .'
34 If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, 'This is the oracle of the Lord ,' I will punish that man and his household.
35 This is what each of you keeps on saying to his friend or relative: 'What is the Lord 's answer?' or 'What has the Lord spoken?'
36 But you must not mention 'the oracle of the Lord ' again, because every man's own word becomes his oracle and so you distort the words of the living God, the Lord Almighty, our God.
37 This is what you keep saying to a prophet: 'What is the Lord 's answer to you?' or 'What has the Lord spoken?'
38 Although you claim, 'This is the oracle of the Lord ,' this is what the Lord says: You used the words, 'This is the oracle of the Lord ,' even though I told you that you must not claim, 'This is the oracle of the Lord .'
39 Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your fathers.
40 I will bring upon you everlasting disgrace-everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.'
24 After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the craftsmen and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord .
2 One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten.
3 Then the Lord asked me, 'What do you see, Jeremiah?' 'Figs,' I answered. 'The good ones are very good, but the poor ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.'
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me:
5 'This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: 'Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians.
6 My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.
7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord . They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
8 ' 'But like the poor figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,' says the Lord , 'so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt.
9 I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, an object of ridicule and cursing, wherever I banish them.
10 I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their fathers.' '
25 The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
2 So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem:
