The Pillars of Three Faiths: Tanakh, Bible & Qu'ran. Various Authors

I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying: 'Thus saith the Lord: Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying: Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house shall now shortly be brought back from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you. ¹⁷Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live; wherefore should this city become desolate? ¹⁸But if they be prophets, and if the word of the Lord be with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. ¹⁹For thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city, ²⁰which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem; ²¹yea, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem: ²²They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be, until the day that I remember them, saith the Lord, and bring them up, and restore them to this place.'

      28And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke unto me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying: ²'Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. ³Within two full years will I bring back into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon; ⁴and I will bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went to Babylon, saith the Lord; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.' ⁵Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the Lord, ⁶even the prophet Jeremiah said: 'Amen! the Lord do so! the Lord perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the Lord's house, and all them that are carried away captive, from Babylon unto this place! ⁷Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people: ⁸The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. ⁹The prophet that prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him.'

      ¹⁰Then Hananiah the prophet took the bar from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and broke it. ¹¹And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying: 'Thus saith the Lord: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from off the neck of all the nations within two full years.' And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. ¹²Then the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying: ¹³'Go, and tell Hananiah, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast broken the bars of wood; but thou shalt make in their stead bars of iron. ¹⁴For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him; and I have given him the beasts of the field also.' ¹⁵Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet: 'Hear now, Hananiah; the Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. ¹⁶'Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will send thee away from off the face of the earth; this year thou shalt die, because thou hast spoken perversion against the Lord.' ¹⁷So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.

      29Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, ²after that Jeconiah the king, and the queen-mother, and the officers, and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem; ³by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying:

      ⁴Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem unto Babylon:

      ⁵Build ye houses, and dwell in them, and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; ⁶take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply ye there, and be not diminished. ⁷And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray unto the Lord for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

      ⁸For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets that are in the midst of you, and your diviners, beguile you, neither hearken ye to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. ⁹For they prophesy falsely unto you in My name; I have not sent them, saith the Lord.

      ¹⁰For thus saith the Lord: After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will remember you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. ¹¹For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹²And ye shall call upon Me, and go, and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. ¹³And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. ¹⁴And I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn your captivity, and gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you back unto the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. ¹⁵For ye have said: 'The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon.' ¹⁶For thus saith the Lord concerning the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and concerning all the people that dwell in this city, your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity; ¹⁷thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. ¹⁸And I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will make them a horror unto all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them; ¹⁹because they have not hearkened to My words, saith the Lord, wherewith I sent unto them My servants the prophets, sending them betimes and often; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord. ²⁰Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: ²¹Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie unto you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes; ²²and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah that are in Babylon, saying: 'The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire'; ²³because they have wrought vile deeds in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken words in My name falsely, which I commanded them not; but I am He that knoweth, and am witness, saith the Lord.

      ²⁴And concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite thou shalt speak, saying: ²⁵Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: Because thou hast sent letters in thine own name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying: ²⁶'The Lord hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that there should be officers in the house of the Lord for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in the stocks and in the collar. ²⁷Now therefore, why hast thou not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who maketh himself a prophet to you, ²⁸forasmuch as he hath sent unto us in Babylon, saying: The captivity is long; build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the