Jeremiah Threatened with Death

The priests, prophets, and people hear Jeremiah in the temple and seize him after he finishes, shouting that he must die for saying the house will become like Shiloh and the city desolate. The officials come from the palace to the temple and take their seats at the New Gate as the priests and prophets formally press the death charge against him.

N⁷ow the priests and prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD, ⁸and as soon as he had finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You must surely die! ⁹How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD that this house will become like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted!” ¹⁰When the officials of Judah heard these things, they went up from the king’s palace to the house of the LORD and sat there at the entrance of the New Gate. ¹¹Then the priests and prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man is worthy of death, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears!”

Jeremiah answers that the LORD sent him to speak everything they heard and calls on them to amend their ways so the LORD may relent. He places himself in their hands but declares that if they kill him, they will bring innocent blood on themselves, the city, and its inhabitants, because his message truly comes from the LORD.

¹²But Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people, “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. ¹³So now, correct your ways and deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, so that He might relent of the disaster He has pronounced against you. ¹⁴As for me, here I am in your hands; do to me what you think is good and right. ¹⁵But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves, upon this city, and upon its residents; for truly the LORD has sent me to speak all these words in your hearing.”