So the Lord felt sorry {for the people}. The Lord did not do the thing that he said he might do—he did not destroy the people.
Jeremiah 26:13 - Easy To Read Version You people change your lives! You must start doing good things! You must obey the Lord your God. If you do that, then the Lord will change his mind. The Lord will not do the bad things he told you about. Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition Therefore now amend your ways and your doings and obey the voice of the Lord your God; then the Lord will relent and reverse the decision concerning the evil which He has pronounced against you. American Standard Version (1901) Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of Jehovah your God; and Jehovah will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. Common English Bible So now transform your ways and actions. Obey the LORD your God, and the LORD may relent and not carry out the harm that he’s pronounced against you. Catholic Public Domain Version Now, therefore, make your ways and your intentions good, and heed the voice of the Lord your God. And then the Lord will repent of the evil that he has spoken against you. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and hearken to the voice of the Lord your God: and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath spoken against you. |
So the Lord felt sorry {for the people}. The Lord did not do the thing that he said he might do—he did not destroy the people.
“If you listen to the things I say, then you will have the good things from this land.
Evil people should stop living evil lives.\par They should stop thinking bad thoughts.\par They should come to the Lord again.\par Then the Lord will comfort them.\par Those people should come to the Lord\par because our God forgives.\par
I am talking about the Agreement I made with your ancestors. {\cf2\super [88]} I made that Agreement with them at the time I brought them out of Egypt. \{Egypt was a place of many troubles—\}it was like an oven hot enough to melt iron. I told those people: Obey me and do everything I command you. If you do this, you will be my people, and I will be your God.
“So, Jeremiah, say to the people of Judah and the people that live in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am preparing troubles for you right now. I am making plans against you. So stop doing the evil things that you are doing. Each person must change and start doing good things!’
But the people of that nation might change their hearts and lives. The people in that nation might stop doing evil things. Then I would change my mind. I would not follow my plans to bring disaster to that nation.
“Hezekiah was the king of Judah. And Hezekiah didn’t kill Micah. None of the people of Judah killed Micah. You know that Hezekiah respected the Lord. He wanted to please the Lord. The Lord had said he would do bad things to Judah. But Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, and the Lord changed his mind. The Lord didn’t do those bad things. If we hurt Jeremiah, then we will bring many troubles on ourselves. And those troubles will be our own fault.”
Maybe they will listen and obey my message. Maybe they will stop living such evil lives. If they change, then I might change my mind about my plans to punish them. I am planning this punishment because of many bad things those people have done.
I sent my servants the prophets to you people of Israel and Judah. I sent them to you again and again. Those prophets said to you, ‘Each of you people of Israel and Judah must stop doing evil things. You must be good. Don’t follow other gods. Don’t worship or serve them. If you obey me, then you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.’ But you people have not paid attention to my message.
Maybe the family of Judah will hear what I am planning to do to them. And maybe they will stop doing bad things. If they will do that, I will forgive them for the bad sins they have done.”
But Jeremiah answered, “The soldiers will not give you to those men of Judah. King Zedekiah, obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then things will go well for you, and your life will be saved.
‘If you people will stay in Judah, I will make you strong—I will not destroy you. I will plant you, and I will not pull you up. I will do this because I am sad about the terrible things that I made happen to you.
“You must say to them, ‘The Lord my Master says: On my life, I promise, I don’t enjoy seeing people die—not even evil people! I don’t want them to die. I want those evil people to come back to me. I want them to change their lives so they can really live! So come back to me! Stop doing bad things! Why must you die, family of Israel?’
Who knows, maybe the Lord\par will change his mind.\par And maybe he will leave behind\par a blessing for you.\par Then you can give grain and drink offerings\par to the Lord your God.\par
Then maybe God will change and not do the things he had planned. Maybe God will change and not be angry. Then maybe we will not be punished.
Jonah complained to the Lord and said, “I knew this would happen! I was in my own country, and you told me to come here. At that time, I knew that you would forgive the people of this evil city. So I decided to run away to Tarshish. I knew that you are a kind God! I knew that you show mercy and don’t want to punish people! I knew that you are full of kindness! I knew that if these people stopped sinning, you would change your plans to destroy them.
“The Lord will judge his people. They are his servants, and he will show them mercy. He will see that their power is gone. He will see that they are all helpless— the slaves and free people, too.
Then Jesus was perfect. And Jesus is the reason that all those people who obey him can have salvation forever.
Many times the enemies of Israel did bad things to the people. So the people of Israel would cry for help. And each time, the Lord felt sorry for the people. Each time he sent a judge to save the people from their enemies. The Lord was always with those judges. So each time, the people of Israel were saved from their enemies.