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Jeremiah 26

Jeremiah’s trial exposes resistance to God’s warning, while the contrasting fates of two prophets show the danger of speaking it.

Jeremiah stands in the temple court near the start of Jehoiakim’s reign, commanded by YHWH to deliver every word of a warning to Judah’s worshipers. If they refuse to listen, their temple and city face ruin. Priests and prophets demand his death, and Judah’s officials hear the case. Elders recall how Hezekiah responded to an earlier prophet. Jeremiah survives with Ahikam’s support, while the account of Uriah records another prophet’s death at Jehoiakim’s command.

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1In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the LORD:
2“The LORD says: ‘Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah which come to worship in the LORD’s house, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Don’t omit a word.
3It may be they will listen, and every man turn from his evil way, that I may relent from the evil which I intend to do to them because of the evil of their doings.’”
4You shall tell them, “The LORD says: ‘If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law which I have set before you,
5to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you, even rising up early and sending them—but you have not listened—
6then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.’”
7The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the LORD’s house.
8When Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You shall surely die!
9Why have you prophesied in the LORD’s name, saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh, and this city will be desolate, without inhabitant’?” All the people were crowded around Jeremiah in the LORD’s house.
10When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the LORD’s house; and they sat in the entry of the new gate of the LORD’s house.
11Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and to all the people, saying, “This man is worthy of death, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.”
12Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and to all the people, saying, “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.
13Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the LORD your God’s voice; then the LORD will relent from the evil that he has pronounced against you.
14But as for me, behold, I am in your hand. Do with me what is good and right in your eyes.
15Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for in truth the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”
16Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets: “This man is not worthy of death; for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.”
17Then certain of the elders of the land rose up, and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,
18“Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘The LORD of Armies says: “‘Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.’
19Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Didn’t he fear the LORD, and entreat the favor of the LORD, and the LORD relented of the disaster which he had pronounced against them? We would commit great evil against our own souls that way!”
20There was also a man who prophesied in the LORD’s name, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath Jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.
21When Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Uriah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt.
22Then Jehoiakim the king sent Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him into Egypt.
23They fetched Uriah out of Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.
24But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they didn’t give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
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Key verses
Jeremiah 26:13Facing death, Jeremiah repeats the call to repentance and holds out YHWH’s stated willingness to relent from judgment.
Jeremiah 26:6The threat that the temple will become like Shiloh provokes the accusation that Jeremiah deserves death.
Jeremiah 26:18The elders cite an earlier prophecy against Jerusalem as grounds for rejecting the demand to execute Jeremiah.
Where this chapter reaches

The reference to Shiloh connects with 1 Samuel, where that place houses YHWH’s sanctuary and judgment falls on its priestly house. Acts shares the pattern of witnesses facing hostile hearings, including accusations concerning the temple and the killing of a witness.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you about Jeremiah’s defense when his listeners demand his death?

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How does Uriah’s death shape your reading of Jeremiah’s rescue at the chapter’s end?

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Questions people ask about Jeremiah 26

What does it mean that the temple will become like Shiloh in Jeremiah 26?

Shiloh was an earlier center of Israel’s worship, associated with the sanctuary in 1 Samuel. Here it serves as a warning of ruin: Jerusalem’s temple will offer no protection if Judah refuses God’s word. Jeremiah 26 assumes its hearers know Shiloh’s fate and does not recount that history.

Why does Jeremiah 26 say God will relent from evil?

In verses 3 and 13, evil refers to the disaster God has announced against Judah, as verse 19’s wording helps clarify. The warning includes a stated condition: the people must turn from their evil ways and obey God. Relenting means withholding that threatened judgment in response to repentance.

Who was Uriah in Jeremiah 26, and why was he killed?

Uriah was a prophet from Kiriath Jearim whose message against Jerusalem and Judah agreed with Jeremiah’s. When Jehoiakim sought his death, he fled to Egypt. The king had him brought back and killed. The account contrasts his fate with Jeremiah’s protection through Ahikam; it gives no reason God allowed different outcomes.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).