American King James Version - AKJV - 1999
Jeremiah 28
1
And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
Reference
People
2
Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
3
Within two full years will I bring again 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:
Reference
4
And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, said the LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Reference
5
Then the prophet Jeremiah said to 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,
Reference
Prophecy
Jeremiah 28:1
6
Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the LORD do so: the LORD perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the LORD's house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place.
Reference
7
Nevertheless hear you now this word that I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people;
Reference
Parallel theme
1 Kings 22:28
8
The prophets that have been before me and before you of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
Reference
9
The prophet which prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD has truly sent him.
Reference
10
Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and broke it.
Reference
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 27:2
11
And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus said the LORD; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
Reference
12
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
Reference
Word
Jeremiah 1:2
13
Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus said the LORD; You have broken the yokes of wood; but you shall make for them yokes of iron.
14
For thus said the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron on 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.
Reference
References Lord
Deuteronomy 28:48
15
Then said the prophet Jeremiah to Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD has not sent you; but you make this people to trust in a lie.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ezekiel 13:22
Jeremiah 20:6
Prophecy
Jeremiah 27:15
Jeremiah 23:21
Ezekiel 22:28
Lamentations 2:14
1 Kings 22:23
Jeremiah 28:11
Zechariah 13:3
References Lord
Jeremiah 29:23
16
Therefore thus said the LORD; Behold, I will cast you from off the face of the earth: this year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the LORD.
Reference
Parallel theme
Genesis 7:4
Jeremiah 20:6
Exodus 32:12
1 Kings 13:34
References Lord
Jeremiah 29:32
Deuteronomy 6:15
17
So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
Summary of Jeremiah 28
Jeremiah 28 presents a dramatic confrontation between Jeremiah and Hananiah, two prophets who give completely different messages about Judah's future. The confrontation takes place during the reign of King Zedekiah, probably around 594 BC, only a few years after Babylon had captured Jerusalem and deported King Jehoiachin and many of Judah's leaders.
Hananiah delivers exactly the kind of message that a suffering nation would want to hear: Babylon's power will soon be broken, the Temple treasures will return, and the exiles will come home within two years. His message is confident, patriotic, and hopeful, while Jeremiah's message is difficult because it tells the people that Babylon's authority will continue and that they must accept God's discipline.
Jeremiah's initial response is surprisingly gracious. He says that he wishes Hananiah's prediction were true, because restoration would certainly be good news, but he reminds the people that prophetic messages cannot be judged simply by how comforting they sound. A prediction of peace must ultimately be tested by what happens.
Hananiah then performs a dramatic symbolic action by taking the wooden yoke from Jeremiah's neck and breaking it, declaring that Babylon's power will be broken within two years. The symbolism is powerful because the yoke had represented submission to Babylon, so breaking it publicly communicates freedom, independence, and national restoration.
But God responds through Jeremiah with an even stronger image: the wooden yoke will become an iron yoke. Instead of Babylon's authority disappearing, Judah's resistance will result in even greater pressure and suffering, and the coming Babylonian domination will become unavoidable.
Jeremiah then directly tells Hananiah that God did not send him, because his optimistic message has encouraged the people to trust a false promise rather than respond to God's actual warning. The chapter therefore addresses a difficult question: how can people distinguish a genuine message from one that merely tells them what they desperately want to hear?
The answer presented here is that hopeful words are not automatically God's words. A message must be consistent with God's revealed purposes and, particularly in this case, must ultimately be confirmed by reality. Hananiah's specific prediction that restoration would occur within two years fails, while Jeremiah's warnings continue toward fulfillment.
The final confirmation comes when Jeremiah announces that Hananiah will die within the same year, and the chapter records that Hananiah dies in the seventh month, only months after the confrontation.
The central message is that a comforting message is not necessarily a true message, and a difficult message is not necessarily a false one, because God's truth must be measured by His purposes rather than by how attractive or reassuring the message sounds; Hananiah promised quick freedom, restored Temple treasures, and the return of the exiles, while Jeremiah warned that Babylon's control would continue, and the breaking of the wooden yoke only became a symbol of the coming iron yoke, demonstrating that rejecting an uncomfortable truth does not change reality, while falsely claiming to speak for God carries serious consequences.
Hananiah delivers exactly the kind of message that a suffering nation would want to hear: Babylon's power will soon be broken, the Temple treasures will return, and the exiles will come home within two years. His message is confident, patriotic, and hopeful, while Jeremiah's message is difficult because it tells the people that Babylon's authority will continue and that they must accept God's discipline.
Jeremiah's initial response is surprisingly gracious. He says that he wishes Hananiah's prediction were true, because restoration would certainly be good news, but he reminds the people that prophetic messages cannot be judged simply by how comforting they sound. A prediction of peace must ultimately be tested by what happens.
Hananiah then performs a dramatic symbolic action by taking the wooden yoke from Jeremiah's neck and breaking it, declaring that Babylon's power will be broken within two years. The symbolism is powerful because the yoke had represented submission to Babylon, so breaking it publicly communicates freedom, independence, and national restoration.
But God responds through Jeremiah with an even stronger image: the wooden yoke will become an iron yoke. Instead of Babylon's authority disappearing, Judah's resistance will result in even greater pressure and suffering, and the coming Babylonian domination will become unavoidable.
Jeremiah then directly tells Hananiah that God did not send him, because his optimistic message has encouraged the people to trust a false promise rather than respond to God's actual warning. The chapter therefore addresses a difficult question: how can people distinguish a genuine message from one that merely tells them what they desperately want to hear?
The answer presented here is that hopeful words are not automatically God's words. A message must be consistent with God's revealed purposes and, particularly in this case, must ultimately be confirmed by reality. Hananiah's specific prediction that restoration would occur within two years fails, while Jeremiah's warnings continue toward fulfillment.
The final confirmation comes when Jeremiah announces that Hananiah will die within the same year, and the chapter records that Hananiah dies in the seventh month, only months after the confrontation.
The central message is that a comforting message is not necessarily a true message, and a difficult message is not necessarily a false one, because God's truth must be measured by His purposes rather than by how attractive or reassuring the message sounds; Hananiah promised quick freedom, restored Temple treasures, and the return of the exiles, while Jeremiah warned that Babylon's control would continue, and the breaking of the wooden yoke only became a symbol of the coming iron yoke, demonstrating that rejecting an uncomfortable truth does not change reality, while falsely claiming to speak for God carries serious consequences.