The Two Yokes. 1That same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the prophet, son of Azzur, from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the Lord in the sight of the priests and all the people: 2“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3Within two years I will restore to this place all the vessels of the house of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took from this place and carried away to Babylon. 4And Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon, I will bring back to this place—oracle of the Lord—for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”

5Jeremiah the prophet answered the prophet Hananiah in the sight of the priests and all the people standing in the house of the Lord, 6and said: Amen! thus may the Lord do! May the Lord fulfill your words that you have prophesied, by bringing back the vessels of the house of the Lord and all the exiles from Babylon to this place! 7But now, listen to the word I am about to speak in your hearing and the hearing of all the people. 8In the past, the prophets who came before you and me prophesied war, disaster, and pestilence against many lands and mighty kingdoms. 9But the prophet who prophesies peace is recognized as the prophet whom the Lord has truly sent only when his word comes to pass.a

10Thereupon Hananiah the prophet took the yoke bar from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. 11He said in the sight of all the people: “Thus says the Lord: Like this, within two years I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from the neck of all the nations.” At that, the prophet Jeremiah went on his way.

12After Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke bar off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13Go tell Hananiah this: Thus says the Lord: By breaking a wooden yoke bar, you make an iron yoke! 14For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: A yoke of iron I have placed on the necks of all these nations serving Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and they shall serve him; even the wild animals I have given him.b 15And Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet: Listen to this, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, and you have led this people to rely on deception. 16For this, says the Lord, I am sending you from the face of the earth; this very year you shall die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.c 17Hananiah the prophet died in that year, in the seventh month.