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Jeremiah

Called as a young man, he warned Jerusalem for forty years and wept when no one listened.

Old and New Testament · c. 627–586 BC · Jeremiah, Lamentations, Matthew, Hebrews · Also known as Jeremy, The weeping prophet

About Jeremiah

Jeremiah, a priest’s son from Anathoth, was called young: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee." For about forty years, from King Josiah to the fall of Jerusalem, he warned Judah to turn back to God and to submit to Babylon. He was mocked, beaten, put in the stocks, thrown into a muddy cistern, and called a traitor. A king cut up and burned his scroll, and his scribe Baruch wrote it again. Yet he also wrote to the exiles, "I know the thoughts that I think toward you… thoughts of peace," and promised a new covenant written on the heart.

Jeremiah lived through the last days of the kingdom of Judah, when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem (586 BC). He is often called "the weeping prophet." Lamentations is traditionally attributed to him. Jesus spoke of the "new testament" (new covenant) in his blood at the Last Supper.

The story

Before I formed thee

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." "Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child." "Say not, I am a child… Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee."

Jeremiah 1:4-10

The potter’s house

God sent Jeremiah to watch a potter. When a pot was marred, the potter "made it again another vessel." "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter?… as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand."

Jeremiah 18:1-6

Thoughts of peace

Jeremiah wrote to the exiles in Babylon: build houses, plant gardens, "seek the peace of the city," for they would be there seventy years. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

Jeremiah 29:4-14

In the mire

Officials said his message weakened the soldiers, so "they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire." Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian servant of the king, pleaded for him and drew him out with ropes and old rags.

Jeremiah 38:1-13

A new covenant

"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel… I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people."

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Key moments

Questions about Jeremiah

In meetBible these answers are given in Jeremiah’s voice. They are written by hand and checked against Scripture.

Why are you called the weeping prophet?

Because my book is full of grief for my people. I wrote, "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!" I watched Jerusalem refuse to listen and fall. Lamentations is traditionally linked with me too, though it doesn’t name its author.

Did you ever want to give up?

Yes. After being put in the stocks I said, "I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name." But "his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." I even cursed the day I was born. Scripture keeps my complaints, not only my faith.

Connected people

Read it yourself

Start with Jeremiah 1; 18; 29; 31.

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